Enhanced customer service for mobile carriers using real-time and historical mobile application and traffic or optimization data associated with mobile devices in a mobile network

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods of enhanced customer service for mobile carriers using real-time and historical mobile application and traffic or optimization data associated with mobile devices in a mobile network are disclosed. The data can be tracked by a client-side and/or a server-side reporting engine and usage analytics engine. Reports can also be generated by the system from the data and provided to the customer service/call center, such as trend charts showing optimization efficiency of traffic over a network and battery consumption vs. application load for a mobile device as a function of time.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND EFFECTIVE FILING DATEENTITLEMENT

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/860,332 entitled “INTELLIGENT CUSTOMERSERVICE/CALL CENTER SERVICES ENHANCED USING REAL-TIME AND HISTORICALMOBILE APPLICATION AND TRAFFIC-RELATED STATISTICS COLLECTED BY ADISTRIBUTED CACHING SYSTEM IN A MOBILE NETWORK,” (Attorney Docket No.76443-8126.US01), filed on Apr. 10, 2013, and entitled to the benefit ofand/or the right of the priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 61/622,137 entitled, “INTELLIGENT CUSTOMER SERVICE/CALL CENTERSERVICES ENHANCED USING REAL-TIME AND HISTORICAL MOBILE APPLICATION ANDTRAFFIC-RELATED STATISTICS COLLECTED BY A DISTRIBUTED CACHING SYSTEM INA MOBILE NETWORK,” (Attorney Docket No. 76443-8142.US00), filed Apr. 10,2012, and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Thisapplication is therefore entitled to an effective filing date of Apr.10, 2012.

BACKGROUND

A mobile phone user may initiate a customer service call to a customerservice provider for various reasons such as querying networkconnectivity when difficulties arise, billing issues, upgrading anaccount, and service availability. However, unless the customer serviceprovider has access to information about the mobile phone user'sparticular history or current and past network conditions, it may bedifficult to provide a rapid answer to the user's question or anoptimized solution to the user's problem.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A-1 illustrates an example diagram of a system in which a localproxy at a mobile device in conjunction with a proxy server at a hostserver manage and optimize traffic to or from the mobile device over amobile network provided by a mobile network carrier that maintains acustomer service/call center to provide support to the user of themobile device and/or to monitor the mobile network.

FIG. 1A illustrates an example diagram of a system where a host serverfacilitates management of traffic, content caching, and/or resourceconservation between mobile devices (e.g., wireless devices), anapplication server or content provider, or other servers such as an adserver, promotional content server, or an e-coupon server in a wirelessnetwork (or broadband network) for resource conservation. The hostserver can further categorize mobile traffic and/or implement deliverypolicies based on application behavior, content priority, user activity,and/or user expectations.

FIG. 1B illustrates an example diagram of a proxy and cache systemdistributed between the host server and device which facilitates networktraffic management between a device, an application server or contentprovider, or other servers such as an ad server, promotional contentserver, or an e-coupon server for resource conservation and contentcaching. The proxy system distributed among the host server and thedevice can further categorize mobile traffic and/or implement deliverypolicies based on application behavior, content priority, user activity,and/or user expectations. The proxy system may further include anoptional caching proxy server further having or being coupled to acustomer service provider/call center.

FIG. 1C illustrates an example diagram of the logical architecture of adistributed proxy and cache system.

FIG. 1D illustrates a diagram of the example components on the serverside of the distributed proxy and cache system.

FIG. 1E illustrates a diagram showing the architecture of example clientside components in a distributed proxy and cache system.

FIGS. 1F-1S illustrate examples of reports generated by the reportingand usage analytics system.

FIG. 2A depicts a block diagram illustrating another example ofclient-side components in a distributed proxy and cache system, furtherincluding a reporting engine and usage analytics engine and a customerservice requesting agent.

FIG. 2B depicts a block diagram illustrating additional components inthe client-side reporting engine and usage analytics engine coupled tothe customer service requesting agent shown in the example of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3A depicts a block diagram illustrating an example of server-sidecomponents in a distributed proxy and cache system, further including areporting engine and usage analytics engine and a customer servicerequesting agent.

FIG. 3B depicts a block diagram illustrating additional components inthe server-side reporting engine and usage analytics engine coupled tothe customer service requesting agent shown in the example of FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4A depicts a block diagram illustrating an example of client-sidecomponents in a distributed proxy and/or cache system (e.g.,(distributed) traffic optimizer, traffic management system,(distributed) content caching mechanism for traffic alleviation) (e.g.,(distributed) traffic optimizer, traffic management system,(distributed) content caching mechanism for traffic alleviation)residing on a mobile device (e.g., wireless device) that manages trafficin a wireless network (or broadband network) for resource conservation,content caching, and/or traffic management. The client-side proxy (orlocal proxy) can further categorize mobile traffic and/or implementdelivery policies based on application behavior, content priority, useractivity, and/or user expectations. The client-side components canfurther detect and manage user interactions with mobile or foregroundapplications on a mobile device in a distributed caching environment.

FIG. 4B depicts a block diagram illustrating a further example ofcomponents in the cache system shown in the example of FIG. 4A which iscapable of caching and adapting caching strategies for mobileapplication behavior and/or network conditions. Components capable ofdetecting long poll requests and managing caching of long polls are alsoillustrated.

FIG. 4C depicts a block diagram illustrating examples of additionalcomponents in the local cache shown in the example of FIG. 4A which isfurther capable of performing mobile traffic categorization and policyimplementation based on application behavior and/or user activity.

FIG. 5A depicts a block diagram illustrating an example of server-sidecomponents in a distributed proxy and/or cache system (e.g.,(distributed) traffic optimizer, traffic management system,(distributed) content caching mechanism for traffic alleviation) (e.g.,(distributed) traffic optimizer, traffic management system,(distributed) content caching mechanism for traffic alleviation) thatmanages traffic in a wireless network (or broadband network) forresource conservation, content caching, and/or traffic management. Theserver-side proxy (or proxy server) can further categorize mobiletraffic and/or implement delivery policies based on applicationbehavior, content priority, user activity, and/or user expectations. Theproxy server can also detect and manage user interactions with mobile orforeground applications on a mobile device in a distributed cachingenvironment.

FIG. 5B depicts a block diagram illustrating a further example ofcomponents in the caching policy manager in the cache system shown inthe example of FIG. 5A which is capable of caching and adapting cachingstrategies for mobile application behavior and/or network conditions.Components capable of detecting long poll requests and managing cachingof long polls are also illustrated.

FIG. 5C depicts a block diagram illustrating examples of additionalcomponents in proxy server shown in the example of FIG. 5A which isfurther capable of performing mobile traffic categorization and policyimplementation based on application behavior and/or traffic priority.

FIG. 6A depicts a flow diagram illustrating an example process fordistributed content caching between a mobile device (e.g., any wirelessdevice) and remote proxy and the distributed management of contentcaching.

FIG. 6B depicts a timing diagram showing how data requests from a mobiledevice (e.g., any wireless device) to an application server/contentprovider in a wireless network (or broadband network) can be coordinatedby a distributed proxy system in a manner such that network and batteryresources are conserved through using content caching and monitoringperformed by the distributed proxy system.

FIG. 7 depicts a table showing examples of different traffic orapplication category types which can be used in implementing networkaccess and content delivery policies.

FIG. 8 depicts a table showing examples of different content categorytypes which can be used in implementing network access and contentdelivery policies.

FIG. 9 depicts an interaction diagram showing how polls having datarequests from a mobile device (e.g., any wireless device) to anapplication server/content provider over a wireless network (orbroadband network) can be can be cached on the local proxy and managedby the distributed caching system.

FIG. 10A depicts a flow diagram illustrating an example process where acustomer service provider/call center obtains information needed torespond to a customer service request.

FIG. 10B depicts a flow diagram illustrating an example process where acustomer service provider/call center obtains information needed forsystem monitoring or maintenance.

FIG. 11 depicts a flow chart illustrating an example process forcollecting information about a request and the associated response toidentify cacheability and caching the response.

FIG. 12 depicts a flow chart illustrating an example process showingdecision flows to determine whether a response to a request can becached.

FIG. 13 depicts a flow chart illustrating an example process fordetermining potential for cacheability based on request periodicityand/or response repeatability.

FIG. 14 depicts a flow chart illustrating an example process fordynamically adjusting caching parameters for a given request or client.

FIG. 15 depicts a flow chart illustrating example processes forapplication and/or traffic (data) categorization while factoring in useractivity and expectations for implementation of network access andcontent delivery policies.

FIG. 16A depicts a flow chart illustrating example processes forhandling traffic which is to be suppressed at least temporarilydetermined from application/traffic categorization.

FIG. 16B depicts a flow chart illustrating an example process forselection of a network configuration for use in sending traffic based onapplication and/or traffic (data) categorization.

FIG. 16C depicts a flow chart illustrating an example process forimplementing network access and content delivery policies based onapplication and/or traffic (data) categorization.

FIG. 17 depicts a flow chart illustrating an example process for networkselection based on mobile user activity or user expectations.

FIG. 18 depicts a flow diagram illustrating an example process performedby the client-side reporting engine and usage analytics engine forproviding data to a customer service provider/call center.

FIG. 19 depicts a flow diagram illustrating an example process performedby the server-side reporting engine and usage analytics engine forproviding data to a customer service provider/call center.

FIG. 20 depicts a flow diagram illustrating an example process performedby the server-side reporting engine and usage analytics engine forproviding information pertaining to network impact of traffic managementand optimization to and/or from mobile devices over a mobile network toa service provider of the mobile network.

FIG. 21 shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the exampleform of a computer system within which a set of instructions, forcausing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, may be executed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and drawings are illustrative and are not tobe construed as limiting. Numerous specific details are described toprovide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, in certaininstances, well-known or conventional details are not described in orderto avoid obscuring the description. References to “one embodiment” or“an embodiment” in the present disclosure can be, but not necessarilyare, references to the same embodiment and such references mean at leastone of the embodiments.

Reference in this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic describedin connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodimentof the disclosure. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” invarious places in the specification are not necessarily all referring tothe same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodimentsmutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, various features aredescribed which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others.Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirementsfor some embodiments but not other embodiments.

The terms used in this specification generally have their ordinarymeanings in the art, within the context of the disclosure, and in thespecific context where each term is used. Certain terms that are used todescribe the disclosure are discussed below, or elsewhere in thespecification, to provide additional guidance to the practitionerregarding the description of the disclosure. For convenience, certainterms may be highlighted, for example using italics and/or quotationmarks. The use of highlighting has no influence on the scope and meaningof a term; the scope and meaning of a term is the same, in the samecontext, whether or not it is highlighted. It will be appreciated thatsame thing can be said in more than one way.

Consequently, alternative language and synonyms may be used for any oneor more of the terms discussed herein, nor is any special significanceto be placed upon whether or not a term is elaborated or discussedherein. Synonyms for certain terms are provided. A recital of one ormore synonyms does not exclude the use of other synonyms. The use ofexamples anywhere in this specification, including examples of any termsdiscussed herein, is illustrative only, and is not intended to furtherlimit the scope and meaning of the disclosure or of any exemplifiedterm. Likewise, the disclosure is not limited to various embodimentsgiven in this specification.

Without intent to limit the scope of the disclosure, examples ofinstruments, apparatus, methods and their related results according tothe embodiments of the present disclosure are given below. Note thattitles or subtitles may be used in the examples for convenience of areader, which in no way should limit the scope of the disclosure. Unlessotherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein havethe same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in theart to which this disclosure pertains. In the case of conflict, thepresent document, including definitions, will control.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include intelligent customerservice/call center services enhanced using real-time and historicalmobile application and traffic-related statistics collected by adistributed caching system.

There are multiple factors that contribute to the proliferation of data:the end-user, mobile devices, wireless devices, mobile applications, andthe network. As mobile devices evolve, so do the various elementsassociated with them-availability, applications, user behavior, locationthus changing the way the network interacts with the device and theapplication.

The disclosed technology provides a comprehensive and end-to-endsolution that is able to address each element for operators and devicesmanufacturers to support both the shift in mobile or wireless devicesand the surge in data by leveraging the premise that mobile content hasa definable or relevant “freshness” value. The “freshness” of mobilecontent can be determined, either with certainty, or with someheuristics having a tolerance within which the user experience isenhanced, or not negatively impacted, or negatively impacted but iseither not perceptible to the user or within a tolerable thresholdlevel.

The disclosed innovation transparently determines such “freshness” bymonitoring, analyzing, and applying rules (which may be heuristicallydetermined) the transactions (requests/responses) between applications(e.g., mobile applications) and the peers (corresponding server or otherclients). Moreover, the technology is further able to effectively cachecontent which may be marked by its originating/host server as being“non-cacheable” and identify some “freshness” value which can then beused in implementing application-specific caching. In general, the“freshness” value has an approximate minimum value which is typicallydetermined using the update interval (e.g., interval with which requestsare sent) between the application and its corresponding server/host.

One embodiment of the disclosed technology includes a system thatoptimizes multiple aspects of the connection with wired and wirelessnetworks and devices through a comprehensive view of device andapplication activity including: loading, current application needs on adevice, controlling the type of access (push vs. pull or hybrid),location, concentration of users in a single area, time of day, howoften the user interacts with the application, content or device, andusing this information to shape traffic to a cooperative client/serveror simultaneously mobile devices without a cooperative client. Becausethe disclosed server is not tied to any specific network provider it hasvisibility into the network performance across all service providers.This enables optimizations to be applied to devices regardless of theoperator or service provider, thereby enhancing the user experience andmanaging network utilization while roaming. Bandwidth has beenconsidered a major issue in wireless networks today. More and moreresearch has been done related to the need for additional bandwidth tosolve access problems. Many of the performance enhancing solutions andnext generation standards, such as those commonly referred to as 3.5G,LTE, 4G, and WiMAX, are focused on providing increased bandwidth.Although partially addressed by the standards, a key problem thatremains is lack of bandwidth on the signaling channel more so than thedata channel and the standard does not address battery life very well.

Embodiments of the disclosed technology includes, for example, alignmentof requests from multiple applications to minimize the need for severalpolling requests; leverage specific content types to determine how toproxy/manage a connection/content; and applying specific heuristicsassociated with device, user behavioral patterns (how often theyinteract with the device/application) and/or network parameters.

Embodiments of the present technology can further include, movingrecurring HTTP polls performed by various widgets, RSS readers, etc., toremote network node (e.g., Network Operation Center (NOC)), thusconsiderably lowering device battery/power consumption, radio channelsignaling and bandwidth usage. Additionally, the offloading can beperformed transparently so that existing applications do not need to bechanged.

In some embodiments, this can be implemented using a local proxy on themobile device (e.g., any wireless device) which automatically detectsrecurring requests for the same content (RSS feed, Widget data set) thatmatches a specific rule (e.g., happens every 15 minutes). The localproxy can automatically cache the content on the mobile device whiledelegating the polling to the server (e.g., a proxy server operated asan element of a communications network). The server can then notify themobile/client proxy if the content changes, and if content has notchanged (or not changed sufficiently, or in an identified manner oramount) the mobile proxy provides the latest version in its cache to theuser (without need to utilize the radio at all). This way the mobile orwireless device (e.g., a mobile phone, smart phone, M2M module/MODEM, orany other wireless devices, etc.) does not need to open (e.g., thuspowering on the radio) or use a data connection if the request is forcontent that is monitored and that has been not flagged as new/changed.

The logic for automatically adding content sources/application servers(e.g., including URLs/content) to be monitored can also check forvarious factors like how often the content is the same, how often thesame request is made (is there a fixed interval/pattern?), whichapplication is requesting the data, etc. Similar rules to decide betweenusing the cache and request the data from the original source may alsobe implemented and executed by the local proxy and/or server.

For example, when the request comes at an unscheduled/unexpected time(user initiated check), or after every (n) consecutive times theresponse has been provided from the cache, etc., or if the applicationis running in the background vs. in a more interactive mode of theforeground. As more and more mobile applications or wireless enabledapplications base their features on resources available in the network,this becomes increasingly important. In addition, the disclosedtechnology allows elimination of unnecessary chatter from the network,benefiting the operators trying to optimize the wireless spectrum usage.

Traffic Categorization and Policy

In some embodiments, the disclosed proxy system is able to establishpolicies for choosing traffic (data, content, messages, updates, etc.)to cache and/or shape. Additionally, by combining information fromobserving the application making the network requests, getting explicitinformation from the application, or knowing the network destination theapplication is reaching, the disclosed technology can determine or inferwhat category the transmitted traffic belongs to.

For example, in one embodiment, mobile or wireless traffic can becategorized as: (a1) interactive traffic or (a2) background traffic. Thedifference is that in (a1) a user is actively waiting for a response,while in (2) a user is not expecting a response. This categorization canbe used in conjunction with or in lieu of a second type ofcategorization of traffic: (b1) immediate, (b2) low priority, (b3)immediate if the requesting application is in the foreground and active.

For example, a new update, message or email may be in the (b1) categoryto be delivered immediately, but it still is (a2) background traffic—auser is not actively waiting for it. A similar categorization applies toinstant messages when they come outside of an active chat session.During an active chat session a user is expecting a response faster.Such user expectations are determined or inferred and factored into whenoptimizing network use and device resources in performing trafficcategorization and policy implementation.

Some examples of the applications of the described categorizationscheme, include the following: (a1) interactive traffic can becategorized as (b1) immediate—but (a2) background traffic may also be(b2) or (b3). An example of a low priority transfer is email or messagemaintenance transaction such as deleting email or other messages ormarking email as read at the mail or application server. Such a transfercan typically occur at the earlier of (a) timer exceeding a timeoutvalue (for example, 2 minutes), and (b) data being sent for otherpurposes.

An example of (b3) is IM presence updates, stock ticker updates, weatherupdates, status updates, news feeds. When the UI of the application isin the foreground and/or active (for example, as indicated by thebacklight of the device/phone being lit or as determined or inferredfrom the status of other sensors), updates can be considered immediatewhenever server has something to push to the device. When theapplication is not in the foreground or not active, such updates can besuppressed until the application comes to foreground and is active.

With some embodiments, networks can be selected or optimizedsimultaneously for (a1) interactive traffic and (a2) background traffic.

In some embodiments, as the wireless device or mobile device proxy(separately or in conjunction with the server proxy) is able tocategorize the traffic as (for example) (a1) interactive traffic or (a2)background traffic, it can apply different policies to different typesof traffic. This means that it can internally operate differently for(a1) and (a2) traffic (for example, by allowing interactive traffic togo through to the network in whole or in part, and apply strictertraffic control to background traffic; or the device side only allows arequest to activate the radio if it has received information from theserver that the content at the host has been updated, etc.).

When the request does require access over the wireless network, thedisclosed technology can request the radio layer to apply differentnetwork configurations to different traffic. Depending on the type oftraffic and network this may be achieved by different means:

(1) Using 3G/4G for (a1) and 2G/2.5G for (a2);

(2) Explicitly specifying network configuration for different data sets(e.g. in terms of use of FACH (forward access channel) vs. DCH(dedicated channel), or otherwise requesting lower/more networkefficient data rates for background traffic); or

(3) Utilizing different network access points for different data sets(access points which would be configured to use network resourcesdifferently similar to (1) and (2) above).

Additionally, 3GPP Fast Dormancy calls for improvements so thatapplications, operating systems or the mobile device would haveawareness of the traffic type to be more efficient in the future.Embodiments of the disclosed system, having the knowledge of the trafficcategory and being able to utilize Fast Dormancy appropriately may solvethe problem identified in Fast Dormancy. This way the mobile orbroadband network does not need to be configured with a compromisedconfiguration that adversely impacts both battery consumption andnetwork signaling resources.

Polling Schedule

Detecting (or determining) a polling schedule allows the proxy server(server-side of the distributed cache system) to be as close as possiblewith its polls to the application polls. Many applications employscheduled interval polling (e.g., every 4 hours or every 30 seconds, atanother time interval). The client side proxy can detect automatic pollsbased on time measurements and create a automatic polling profile for anapplication. As an example, the local proxy attempts to detect the timeinterval between requests and after 2, 3, 4, or more polls, determinesan automatic rate if the time intervals are all within 1 second (oranother measure of relative closeness) of each other. If not, the clientmay collect data from a greater number of polling events (e.g., 10-12polls) and apply a statistical analysis to determine, compute, orestimate a value for the average interval that is used. The pollingprofile is delivered to the server where it is used. If it is a frequentmanual request, the locally proxy can substitute it with a defaultinterval for this application taken from a profile for non-criticalapplications.

In some embodiments, the local proxy (e.g., device side proxy) may keepmonitoring the application/client polls and update the polling interval.If it changes by more than 30% (or anotherpredetermined/dynamic/conditional value) from the current value, it iscommunicated to the proxy server (e.g., server-side proxy). Thisapproach can be referred to as the scenario of “lost interest.”In someinstances, the local proxy can recognize requests made outside of thisschedule, consider them “manual,” and treat them accordingly.

Application Classes/Modes of Caching

In some embodiments, applications can be organized into three groups ormodes of caching. Each mobile client/application can be categorized tobe treated as one of these modes, or treated using multiple modes,depending on one or more conditions.

A) Fully cached—local proxy updates (e.g., sends application requestsdirectly over the network to be serviced by the applicationserver/content host) only when the proxy server tells the local proxy toupdate. In this mode, the local proxy can ignore manual requests and theproxy server uses the detected automatic profile (e.g., sports scoreapplets, Facebook, every 10, 15, 30, or more polls) to poll theapplication server/content provider.

B) Partially cached—the local proxy uses the local or internal cache forautomatic requests (e.g., application automatic refreshes), otherscheduled requests but passes through some manual requests (e.g., emaildownload, Ebay or some Facebook requests); and

C) Never cached (e.g., real-time stock ticker, sports scores/statuses;however, in some instances, 15 minutes delayed quotes can be safelyplaced on 30 seconds schedules—B or even A).

The actual application or caching mode classification can be determinedbased on the rate of content change and critical character of data.Unclassified applications by default can be set as class C.

Backlight and Active Applications

In some embodiments, the local proxy starts by detecting the devicebacklight status. Requests made with the screen light ‘off’ can beallowed to use the local cache if a request with identical signature isregistered with the proxy server, which is polling the original hostserver/content server(s) to which the requests are directed. If thescreen light is ‘on’, further detection can be made to determine whetherit is a background application or for other indicators that local cacheentries can or cannot be used to satisfy the request. When identified,the requests for which local entries can be used may be processedidentically to the screen light off situation. Foreground requests canuse the aforementioned application classification to assess when cacheddata is safe to use to process requests.

FIG. 1A-1 illustrates an example diagram of a system in which a localproxy 175 at a mobile device 150 in conjunction with a proxy server 125at a host server 100 manage and optimize traffic to or from the mobiledevice 150 over a mobile network 108 provided by a mobile networkcarrier that maintains a customer service/call center 198 to providesupport to the user of the mobile device and/or to monitor the mobilenetwork.

On the client side, the local proxy 175 can include components thatcollect data in conjunction with management and optimization of trafficto and/or from the mobile device 150, and analyze the data to preparereports on the collected data. On the server side, the proxy server 125can also include components that collect data in conjunction withmanagement and optimization of traffic to and/or from the mobile device150, and analyze the data to prepare reports on the collected data. Thelocal proxy 175 and the server proxy 125 can operate in combination orindependently to collect and analyze the traffic management andoptimization data. Data and/or reports can be provided to the customerservice/call center 198 of the mobile network carrier providing mobilenetwork service to the mobile device 150.

FIG. 1A illustrates an example diagram of a system where a host server100 facilitates management of traffic, content caching, and/or resourceconservation between mobile devices (e.g., wireless devices 150), and anapplication server or content provider 110, or other servers such as anad server 120A, promotional content server 120B, or an e-coupon server120C in a wireless network (or broadband network) for resourceconservation. The host server can further categorize mobile trafficand/or implement delivery policies based on application behavior,content priority, user activity, and/or user expectations.

The client devices 150 can be any system and/or device, and/or anycombination of devices/systems that is able to establish a connection,including wired, wireless, cellular connections with another device, aserver and/or other systems such as host server 100 and/or applicationserver/content provider 110. Client devices 150 will typically include adisplay and/or other output functionalities to present information anddata exchanged between among the devices 150 and/or the host server 100and/or application server/content provider 110. The applicationserver/content provider 110 can by any server including third partyservers or service/content providers further including advertisement,promotional content, publication, or electronic coupon servers orservices. Similarly, separate advertisement servers 120A, promotionalcontent servers 120B, and/or e-Coupon servers 120C as applicationservers or content providers are illustrated by way of example.

For example, the client/mobile devices 150 can include mobile, hand heldor portable devices, wireless devices, or non-portable devices and canbe any of, but not limited to, a server desktop, a desktop computer, acomputer cluster, or portable devices, including a notebook, a laptopcomputer, a handheld computer, a palmtop computer, a mobile phone, acell phone, a smart phone, a PDA, a Blackberry device, a Palm device,any tablet, a phablet (a class of smart phones with larger screen sizesbetween a typical smart phone and tablet), a handheld tablet (e.g., aniPad, the Galaxy series, the Nexus, the Kindles, Kindle Fires, anyAndroid-based tablet, Windows-based tablet, Amazon-based, or any othertablet), any portable readers/reading devices, a hand held console, ahand held gaming device or console, a head mounted device, a headmounted display, a thin client or any SuperPhone such as the iPhone,and/or any other portable, mobile, hand held devices, or fixed wirelessinterface such as a M2M device, etc. In one embodiment, the clientdevices 150 (or mobile devices 150), host server 100, and applicationserver 110 are coupled via a network 106 and/or a network 108. In someembodiments, the devices 150 and host server 100 may be directlyconnected to one another.

The input mechanism on client devices 150 can include touch screenkeypad (including single touch, multi-touch, gesture sensing in 2D or3D, etc.), a physical keypad, a mouse, a pointer, a track pad, a stylus,a stylus detector/sensor/receptor, motion detector/sensor (e.g.,including 1-axis, 2-axis, 3-axis accelerometer, etc.), a facedetector/recognizer, a retinal detector/scanner, a light sensor,capacitance sensor, resistance sensor, temperature sensor, proximitysensor, a piezoelectric device, device orientation detector (e.g.,electronic compass, tilt sensor, rotation sensor, gyroscope,accelerometer), or any combination of the above.

Signals received or detected indicating user activity at client devices150 through one or more of the above input mechanism, or others, can beused in the disclosed technology in acquiring context awareness at theclient device 150. Context awareness at client devices 150 generallyincludes, by way of example but not limitation, client device 150operation or state acknowledgement, management, useractivity/behavior/interaction awareness, detection, sensing, tracking,trending, and/or application (e.g., mobile applications) type, behavior,activity, operating state, etc.

Context awareness in the present disclosure also includes knowledge anddetection of network side contextual data and can include networkinformation such as network capacity, bandwidth, traffic, type ofnetwork/connectivity, and/or any other operational state data. Networkside contextual data can be received from and/or queried from networkservice providers (e.g., cell provider 112 and/or Internet serviceproviders) of the network 106 and/or network 108 (e.g., by the hostserver and/or devices 150). In addition to application context awarenessas determined from the client 150 side, the application contextawareness may also be received from or obtained/queried from therespective application/service providers 110 (by the host 100 and/orclient devices 150).

The host server 100 can use, for example, contextual informationobtained for client devices 150, networks 106/108, applications (e.g.,mobile applications), application server/provider 110, or anycombination of the above, to manage the traffic in the system to satisfydata needs of the client devices 150 (e.g., to satisfy application orany other request including HTTP request). In one embodiment, thetraffic is managed by the host server 100 to satisfy data requests madein response to explicit or non-explicit user 103 requests and/ordevice/application maintenance tasks. The traffic can be managed suchthat network consumption, for example, use of the cellular network isconserved for effective and efficient bandwidth utilization. Inaddition, the host server 100 can manage and coordinate such traffic inthe system such that use of device 150 side resources (e.g., includingbut not limited to battery power consumption, radio use,processor/memory use) are optimized with a general philosophy forresource conservation while still optimizing performance and userexperience.

For example, in context of battery conservation, the device 150 canobserve user activity (for example, by observing user keystrokes,backlight status, or other signals via one or more input mechanisms,etc.) and alters device 150 behaviors. The device 150 can also requestthe host server 100 to alter the behavior for network resourceconsumption based on user activity or behavior.

In one embodiment, the traffic management for resource conservation isperformed using a distributed system between the host server 100 andclient device 150. The distributed system can include proxy server andcache components on the server side 100 and on the device/client side,for example, as shown by the server cache 135 on the server 100 side andthe local cache 185 on the client 150 side.

Functions and techniques disclosed for context aware traffic managementfor resource conservation in networks (e.g., network 106 and/or 108) anddevices 150, reside in a distributed proxy and cache system. The proxyand cache system can be distributed between, and reside on, a givenclient device 150 in part or in whole and/or host server 100 in part orin whole. The distributed proxy and cache system are illustrated withfurther reference to the example diagram shown in FIG. 1B. Functions andtechniques performed by the proxy and cache components in the clientdevice 150, the host server 100, and the related components therein aredescribed, respectively, in detail with further reference to theexamples of FIG. 2-3.

In one embodiment, client devices 150 communicate with the host server100 and/or the application server 110 over network 106, which can be acellular network and/or a broadband network. To facilitate overalltraffic management between devices 150 and various applicationservers/content providers 110 to implement network (bandwidthutilization) and device resource (e.g., battery consumption), the hostserver 100 can communicate with the application server/providers 110over the network 108, which can include the Internet (e.g., a broadbandnetwork).

In general, the networks 106 and/or 108, over which the client devices150, the host server 100, and/or application server 110 communicate, maybe a cellular network, a broadband network, a telephonic network, anopen network, such as the Internet, or a private network, such as anintranet and/or the extranet, or any combination thereof. For example,the Internet can provide file transfer, remote log in, email, news, RSS,cloud-based services, instant messaging, visual voicemail, push mail,VoIP, and other services through any known or convenient protocol, suchas, but is not limited to the TCP/IP protocol, UDP, HTTP, DNS, FTP,UPnP, NSF, ISDN, PDH, RS-232, SDH, SONET, etc.

The networks 106 and/or 108 can be any collection of distinct networksoperating wholly or partially in conjunction to provide connectivity tothe client devices 150 and the host server 100 and may appear as one ormore networks to the serviced systems and devices. In one embodiment,communications to and from the client devices 150 can be achieved by, anopen network, such as the Internet, or a private network, broadbandnetwork, such as an intranet and/or the extranet. In one embodiment,communications can be achieved by a secure communications protocol, suchas secure sockets layer (SSL), or transport layer security (TLS).

In addition, communications can be achieved via one or more networks,such as, but are not limited to, one or more of WiMax, a Local AreaNetwork (LAN), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a Personal areanetwork (PAN), a Campus area network (CAN), a Metropolitan area network(MAN), a Wide area network (WAN), a Wireless wide area network (WWAN),or any broadband network, and further enabled with technologies such as,by way of example, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM),Personal Communications Service (PCS), Bluetooth, WiFi, Fixed WirelessData, 2G, 2.5G, 3G (e.g., WCDMA/UMTS based 3G networks), 4G,IMT-Advanced, pre-4G, LTE Advanced, mobile WiMax, WiMax 2,WirelessMAN-Advanced networks, enhanced data rates for GSM evolution(EDGE), General packet radio service (GPRS), enhanced GPRS, iBurst,UMTS, HSPDA, HSUPA, HSPA, HSPA+, UMTS-TDD, 1×RTT, EV-DO, messagingprotocols such as, TCP/IP, SMS, MMS, extensible messaging and presenceprotocol (XMPP), real time messaging protocol (RTMP), instant messagingand presence protocol (IMPP), instant messaging, USSD, IRC, or any otherwireless data networks, broadband networks, or messaging protocols.

FIG. 1B illustrates an example diagram of a proxy and cache systemdistributed between the host server 100 and device 150 which facilitatesnetwork traffic management between the device 150 and an applicationserver or content provider 110, or other servers such as an ad server120A, promotional content server 120B, or an e-coupon server 120C forresource conservation and content caching. The proxy system distributedamong the host server 100 and the device 150 can further categorizemobile traffic and/or implement delivery policies based on applicationbehavior, content priority, user activity, and/or user expectations. Theproxy system may further include an optional caching proxy server 199further having or coupled to a customer service provider/call center198. The optional caching proxy server 199 can be a server managed by aservice provider such as an operator service provider, a network serviceprovider, or an Internet service provider. In some instances, a cachingproxy server 199 for an operator (e.g., cellular service provider) caninclude a customer service provider/call center 198 also managed by theproxy 199 or be coupled to the proxy 199.

The distributed proxy and cache system can include, for example, theproxy server 125 (e.g., remote proxy) and the server cache, 135components on the server side. The server-side proxy 125 and cache 135can, as illustrated, reside internal to the host server 100. Inaddition, the proxy server 125 and cache 135 on the server-side can bepartially or wholly external to the host server 100 and in communicationvia one or more of the networks 106 and 108. For example, the proxyserver 125 may be external to the host server and the server cache 135may be maintained at the host server 100. Alternatively, the proxyserver 125 may be within the host server 100 while the server cache isexternal to the host server 100. In addition, each of the proxy server125 and the cache 135 may be partially internal to the host server 100and partially external to the host server 100. The applicationserver/content provider 110 can by any server including third partyservers or service/content providers further including advertisement,promotional content, publication, or electronic coupon servers orservices. Similarly, separate advertisement servers 120A, promotionalcontent servers 120B, and/or e-Coupon servers 120C as applicationservers or content providers are illustrated by way of example.

The distributed system can also, include, in one embodiment, client-sidecomponents, including by way of example but not limitation, a localproxy 175 (e.g., a mobile client on a mobile device) and/or a localcache 185, which can, as illustrated, reside internal to the device 150(e.g., a mobile device).

In addition, the client-side proxy 175 and local cache 185 can bepartially or wholly external to the device 150 and in communication viaone or more of the networks 106 and 108. For example, the local proxy175 may be external to the device 150 and the local cache 185 may bemaintained at the device 150. Alternatively, the local proxy 175 may bewithin the device 150 while the local cache 185 is external to thedevice 150. In addition, each of the proxy 175 and the cache 185 may bepartially internal to the host server 100 and partially external to thehost server 100.

In one embodiment, the distributed system can include an optionalcaching proxy server 199. The caching proxy server 199 can be acomponent which is operated by the application server/content provider110, the host server 100, or a network service provider 112, and or anycombination of the above to facilitate network traffic management fornetwork and device resource conservation. Proxy server 199 can be used,for example, for caching content to be provided to the device 150, forexample, from one or more of, the application server/provider 110, hostserver 100, and/or a network service provider 112. Content caching canalso be entirely or partially performed by the remote proxy 125 tosatisfy application requests or other data requests at the device 150.

In context aware traffic management and optimization for resourceconservation in a network (e.g., cellular or other wireless networks),characteristics of user activity/behavior and/or application behavior ata mobile device (e.g., any wireless device) 150 can be tracked by thelocal proxy 175 and communicated, over the network 106 to the proxyserver 125 component in the host server 100, for example, as connectionmetadata. The proxy server 125 which in turn is coupled to theapplication server/provider 110 provides content and data to satisfyrequests made at the device 150.

In addition, the local proxy 175 can identify and retrieve mobile deviceproperties, including one or more of, battery level, network that thedevice is registered on, radio state, or whether the mobile device isbeing used (e.g., interacted with by a user). In some instances, thelocal proxy 175 can delay, expedite (prefetch), and/or modify data priorto transmission to the proxy server 125, when appropriate, as will befurther detailed with references to the description associated with theexamples of FIG. 3A and FIG. 5A.

The local database 185 can be included in the local proxy 175 or coupledto the local proxy 175 and can be queried for a locally stored responseto the data request prior to the data request being forwarded on to theproxy server 125. Locally cached responses can be used by the localproxy 175 to satisfy certain application requests of the mobile device150, by retrieving cached content stored in the cache storage 185, whenthe cached content is still valid.

Similarly, the proxy server 125 of the host server 100 can also delay,expedite, or modify data from the local proxy prior to transmission tothe content sources (e.g., the application server/content provider 110).In addition, the proxy server 125 uses device properties and connectionmetadata to generate rules for satisfying request of applications on themobile device 150. The proxy server 125 can gather real time trafficinformation about requests of applications for later use in optimizingsimilar connections with the mobile device 150 or other mobile devices.

In general, the local proxy 175 and the proxy server 125 are transparentto the multiple applications executing on the mobile device. The localproxy 175 is generally transparent to the operating system or platformof the mobile device and may or may not be specific to devicemanufacturers. In some instances, the local proxy 175 is optionallycustomizable in part or in whole to be device specific. In someembodiments, the local proxy 175 may be bundled into a wireless model, afirewall, and/or a router.

In one embodiment, the host server 100 can in some instances, utilizethe store and forward functions of a short message service center (SMSC)112, such as that provided by the network service provider, incommunicating with the device 150 in achieving network trafficmanagement. Note that 112 can also utilize any other type of alternativechannel including USSD or other network control mechanisms. As will befurther described with reference to the example of FIG. 3, the hostserver 100 can forward content or HTTP responses to the SMSC 112 suchthat it is automatically forwarded to the device 150 if available, andfor subsequent forwarding if the device 150 is not currently available.

In general, the disclosed distributed proxy and cache system allowsoptimization of network usage, for example, by serving requests from thelocal cache 185, the local proxy 175 reduces the number of requests thatneed to be satisfied over the network 106. Further, the local proxy 175and the proxy server 125 may filter irrelevant data from thecommunicated data. In addition, the local proxy 175 and the proxy server125 can also accumulate low priority data and send it in batches toavoid the protocol overhead of sending individual data fragments. Thelocal proxy 175 and the proxy server 125 can also compress or transcodethe traffic, reducing the amount of data sent over the network 106and/or 108. The signaling traffic in the network 106 and/or 108 can bereduced, as the networks are now used less often and the network trafficcan be synchronized among individual applications.

With respect to the battery life of the mobile device 150, by servingapplication or content requests from the local cache 185, the localproxy 175 can reduce the number of times the radio module is powered up.The local proxy 175 and the proxy server 125 can work in conjunction toaccumulate low priority data and send it in batches to reduce the numberof times and/or amount of time when the radio is powered up. The localproxy 175 can synchronize the network use by performing the batched datatransfer for all connections simultaneously.

FIG. 1C illustrates an example diagram of the logical architecture of adistributed proxy and cache system.

The distributed system can include, for example the followingcomponents:

The Client Side Proxy 175: a component installed in the Smartphone,mobile device or wireless device 150 that interfaces with device'soperating system, as well as with data services and applicationsinstalled in the device. The client side proxy is compliant with allstandard networking protocols.

The server side proxy 125 including a group of servers that caninterface with third party application servers, mobile operator'snetwork and/or the client side proxy 175. The server side proxy 125 iscompliant with all standard specifications required to interact withmobile network elements and third party servers.

Reporting and Usage Analytics Server 174 (Rep & UA): The Reporting andUsage Analytics system 174 collects information at client side and/orserver side and provides the necessary tools for producing reports andusage analytics that operators can use for analyzing traffic andsignaling data

FIG. 1D illustrates a diagram of the example components on the serverside of the distributed proxy and cache system.

The server side 125 of the distributed system can include, for example arelay server 142, which interacts with a traffic harmonizer 144, apolling server 145 and/or a policy management server 143. Each of thevarious components can communicate with the client side proxy 175, orother third party (e.g., application server/service provider 110 and/orother proxy 199) and/or a reporting and usage analytics system. Someexample components of the server side proxy 125 is described as follows:

Relay Server 142: The relay server 142 is the routing agent in thedistributed proxy architecture. The relay server 142 manages connectionsand communications with components on the client-side proxy 175installed on devices and provides an administrative interface forreports, provisioning, platform setup, and so on.

Notification Server 141: The notification server 141 is a module able toconnect to an operator's SMSC gateways and deliver SMS notifications tothe client-side proxy 175. SMS notifications can be used when an IP linkis not currently active, in order to avoid the client-side proxy 175from activating a connection over the wireless data channel, thusavoiding additional signaling traffic. However, if the IP connectionhappens to be open for some other traffic, the notification server 141can use it for sending the notifications to the client-side proxy 175.The user database can store operational data including endpoint(MSISDN), organization and Notification server 141 gateway for eachresource (URIs or URLs).

Traffic Harmonizer 144: The traffic harmonizer 144 can be responsiblefor communication between the client-side proxy 175 and the pollingserver 145. The traffic harmonizer 144 connects to the polling server145 directly or through the data storage 130, and to the client over anyopen or proprietary protocol such as the 7TP, implemented for trafficoptimization. The traffic harmonizer 144 can be also responsible fortraffic pipelining on the server side: if there's cached content in thedatabase for the same client, this can be sent over to the client in onemessage.

Polling Server 145: The polling server 145 can poll third partyapplication servers on behalf of applications that are being optimized).If a change occurs (i.e. new data available) for an application, thepolling server 145 can report to the traffic harmonizer 144 which inturn sends a notification message to the client-side proxy 175 for it toclear the cache and allow an application to poll the application serverdirectly.

Policy Management Server 143: The policy management server (PMS) 143allows administrators to configure and store policies for theclient-side proxies 175 (device clients). It also allows administratorsto notify the client-side proxies 175 about policy changes. Using thepolicy management server 143, each operator can configure the policiesto work in the most efficient way for the unique characteristics of eachparticular mobile operator's network.

Reporting and Usage Analytics Component: The Reporting and UsageAnalytics component or system collects information from the client side175 and/or from the server side 125, and provides the tools forproducing reports and usage analytics that operators can use foranalyzing application signaling and data consumption.

FIG. 1E illustrates an example diagram showing the architecture ofclient side components in a distributed proxy and cache system.

The client side components 175 can include software components or agentsinstalled on the mobile device that enables traffic optimization andperforms the related functionalities on the client side. Components ofthe client side proxy 175 can operate transparently for end users andapplications 163. The client side proxy 175 can be installed on mobiledevices for optimization to take place, and it can effectuate changes onthe data routes. Once data routing is modified, the client side proxy175 can respond to application requests to service providers or hostservers, in addition to or instead of letting those applications 163access data network directly. In general, applications 163 on the mobiledevice will not notice that the client side proxy 175 is responding totheir requests. Some example components of the client side proxy 175 aredescribed as follows:

Device State Monitor 121: The device state monitor 121 can beresponsible for identifying several states and metrics in the device,such as network status, display status, battery level, etc. such thatthe remaining components in the client side proxy 175 can operate andmake decisions according to device state, acting in an optimal way ineach state.

Traffic Recognizer 122: The traffic recognizer 122 analyzes all trafficbetween the wireless device applications 163 and their respective hostservers in order to identify recurrent patterns. Supported transportprotocols include, for example, DNS, HTTP and HTTPS, such that trafficthrough those ports is directed to the client side proxy 175. Whileanalyzing traffic, the client side proxy 175 can identify recurringpolling patterns which can be candidates to be performed remotely by theserver side proxy 125, and send to the protocol optimizer 123.

Protocol Optimizer 123: The protocol optimizer 123 can implement thelogic of serving recurrent request from the local cache 185 instead ofallowing those request go over the network to the serviceprovider/application host server. One is its tasks is to eliminate orminimize the need to send requests to the network, positively affectingnetwork congestion and device battery life.

Local Cache 185: The local cache 185 can store responses to recurrentrequests, and can be used by the Protocol Optimizer 123 to sendresponses to the applications 163.

Traffic Scheduler 124: The traffic scheduler 124 can temporally movecommunications to optimize usage of device resources by unifyingkeep-alive signaling so that some or all of the different applications163 can send keep-alive messages at the same time (traffic pipelining).Traffic scheduler 124 may also decide to delay transmission of data thatis not relevant at a given time (for example, when the device is notactively used).

Policy Manager 125: The policy manager 125 can store and enforce trafficoptimization and reporting policies provisioned by a Policy ManagementServer (PMS). At the client side proxy 175 first start, trafficoptimization and reporting policies (policy profiles) that is to beenforced in a particular device can be provisioned by the PolicyManagement Server.

Watch Dog 127: The watch dog 127 can monitor the client side proxy 175operating availability. In case the client side proxy 175 is not workingdue to a failure or because it has been disabled, the watchdog 127 canreset DNS routing rules information and can restore original DNSsettings for the device to continue working until the client side proxy175 service is restored.

Reporting Agent 126: The reporting agent 126 can gather informationabout the events taking place in the device and sends the information tothe Reporting Server. Event details are stored temporarily in the deviceand transferred to reporting server only when the data channel state isactive. If the client side proxy 175 doesn't send records withintwenty-four hours, the reporting agent 126 may attempt to open theconnection and send recorded entries or, in case there are no entries instorage, an empty reporting packet. All reporting settings areconfigured in the policy management server.

Push Client 128: The push client 128 can be responsible for the trafficto between the server side proxy 125 and the client side proxy 175. Thepush client 128 can send out service requests like content updaterequests and policy update requests, and receives updates to thoserequests from the server side proxy 125. In addition, push client 128can send data to a reporting server (e.g., the reporting and/or usageanalytics system which may be internal to or external to the server sideproxy 125).

The proxy server 199 has a wide variety of uses, from speeding up a webserver by caching repeated requests, to caching web, DNS and othernetwork lookups for a group of clients sharing network resources. Theproxy server 199 is optional. The distributed proxy and cache system(125 and/or 175) allows for a flexible proxy configuration using eitherthe proxy 199, additional proxy(s) in operator's network, or integratingboth proxies 199 and an operator's or other third-party's proxy.

FIG. 1F-1S illustrate examples of reports generated by the reporting andusage analytics system.

FIG. 2A depicts a block diagram illustrating an example of client-sidecomponents in a distributed proxy and cache system, including areporting engine and usage analytics engine 401 and a customer servicerequesting agent 403. FIG. 2B depicts a block diagram illustratingadditional components in the client-side reporting engine and usageanalytics engine 401 coupled to the customer service requesting agent403 shown in the example of FIG. 2A.

The client-side reporting engine and usage analytics engine 401 caninclude, for example, an optimization efficiency tracker 402, aconnection tracker 404, a data use tracker 405, a battery consumptiontracker 406, a customer service request detection module 408, and/or ananalytics cache 407. Additional or fewer modules maybe included. Theengine 401 and/or its internal components can perform reporting and/orusage analytics processes in combination or independently.

The connection tracker 404 can track, analyze, and/or provide reports onthe number of actual signaling connections made by the mobile device250, and the amount of time the mobile device 250 is actually connectedto a network for transmitting or receiving traffic. In some embodiments,the connection tracker 404 can communicate with other modules, forexample, the traffic recognizer 122, the traffic scheduler 124, thereporting agent 126, and/or the push client 128, to identify and trackthis data.

The data use tracker 405 can track, analyze, and/or provide reports onthe total amount of data traffic sent to and from the mobile device 250.In some embodiments, the data use tracker 405 can communicate with othermodules, for example, the traffic recognizer 122, the traffic scheduler124, the reporting agent 126, and/or the push client 128, to identifyand track this data.

The optimization efficiency tracker 402 can track, analyze, and/orprovide reports on the amount of data traffic that was not needed, thenumber of signaling connections that were not needed, and the amount oftime that the mobile device 250 did not need to connect to a network fortransmitting or receiving traffic as a result of using the distributedproxy and cache system. These reports provide information pertaining tonetwork impact of traffic management and optimization to and/or from oneor more mobile devices over one or more mobile networks. In someembodiments, the optimization efficiency tracker 402 can communicatewith other modules, such as the protocol optimizer 123, the trafficscheduler 124, the policy manager 125, and/or the reporting agent 126,to identify and track this data.

Examples of reports generated by the connection tracker 404, the datause tracker 405 and the optimization efficiency tracker 402 are shown inFIGS. 1H-1J, where the report compares pre-optimization data andpost-optimization data. FIG. 1H shows an example report on the totalamount of data traffic and the amount of data traffic saved. FIG. 1Ishows an example report on the number of actual connections and thenumber of saved connections. And FIG. 1J shows an example report on theactual time the mobile device 250 was connected and the amount of timethe mobile device 250 did not need to be connected to a network.

The battery consumption tracker 406 can track, analyze, and/or providereports on the amount of battery power consumed by the mobile device 250as a function of time. In some embodiments, the battery consumptiontracker 406 can communicate with other modules, such as the device statemonitor 121 and/or the protocol optimizer 123, to identify and trackbattery consumption for the mobile device 250. FIG. 1K shows an examplereport of the battery consumption percentage per hour for the mobiledevice 250 when it is not in charging mode.

The connection tracker 404, the data use tracker 405, the optimizationefficiency tracker 402, and/or the battery consumption tracker 406 canstore and access tracked data, analyses, and/or reports in the analyticscache 407.

One embodiment of the engine 401 includes or is coupled to a customerservice requesting agent 403. The customer service requesting agent 403can be activated or launched when the customer service request detectionmodule 408 detects that a user of the mobile device 250 has requestedcustomer service either by launching an application, visiting a website, calling a number, or otherwise issuing a command (e.g., by usingtouch, dial tone, speech, voice request, or any other mechanism forissuing a command). The customer service requesting agent 403 can, insome instances, gather information from the mobile device 250, includingany of the information collected and/or analyzed by the reporting engineand usage analytics engine 401 (and stored in the analytics cache 407)and provide the information to an entity providing the customer service.In some instances, the information is updated in real-time to the entityproviding the customer service.

In some embodiments, the customer service requesting agent 403 caninitially identify the nature of the customer service request (e.g.,what the customer is inquiring about, whether it is an issue or questionregarding the mobile device, network connectivity, billing, anapplication, an upgrade, international coverage, bandwidth, serviceavailability, etc.) and identify the relevant information collected bythe reporting engine and usage analytics engine 401 to be provided tothe entity providing the customer service to the mobile device 250and/or its user.

In some instances, the customer service requesting agent 403 may provideall available information collected by the reporting engine 401 to thecustomer service provider/call center 198, or the requesting agent 403may provide information collected over a specific time frame to thecustomer service provider/call center 198. The customer serviceprovider/call center 198 may also request specific types of informationfrom the analytics engine 401. The agent 403 can in some instances,provide any or all analytics or reports to the customer serviceassistant 503 (as illustrated in the example of FIG. 3A) on the serverside of the distributed proxy, which can in lieu of or in combinationwith the agent 403 provide the relevant analytics to a customer servicecenter/call center 198. Examples of information that can be generated,or types of analyses that can be performed are illustrated in theexamples of FIG. 1F-1S and are further described in the examples of FIG.3A.

FIG. 3A depicts a block diagram illustrating an example of server-sidecomponents in a distributed proxy and cache system, including areporting engine and usage analytics engine 501 and a customer serviceassistant 503. FIG. 3B depicts a block diagram illustrating additionalcomponents in the server-side reporting engine and usage analyticsengine 501 coupled to the customer service assistant 503 shown in theexample of FIG. 3A.

The reporting engine and usage analytics engine 501 can include, forexample, an optimization reporting engine 509, a user statisticsreporting engine 510, a customized analysis reporting engine 504, a datastatistics reporting engine 511, an application statistics reportingengine 505, a device statistics reporting engine 506, a trending engine507, a rankings engine 508, and/or an analytics cache 512. Additional orfewer modules may be included. The engine 501 and/or its internalcomponents can perform reporting and analytics generating features incombination or independently, and further in combination with or in lieuof the client-side reporting engine and usage analytics engine 401. Theoptimization reporting engine 509, the user statistics reporting engine510, the customized analysis reporting engine 504, the data statisticsreporting engine 511, the application statistics reporting engine 505,the device statistics reporting engine 506, the trending engine 507, andthe rankings engine 508 can store and access tracked data, analyses,and/or reports in the analytics cache 512.

The user statistics reporting engine 510 can track, analyze, and/orprovide reports on the number of users actively using the distributedproxy and cache system over time and the number of new users of thesystem. FIG. 1F shows an example report of the number of active usersduring a reporting period of the most recent 30 days, and FIG. 1G showsan example report of the number of new users during the same timeperiod.

The optimization reporting engine 509 can track, analyze, and/or providereports on the amount of data traffic that was not needed, the number ofsignaling connections that were not needed, and the amount of time thatthe mobile device 250 did not need to connect to a network fortransmitting or receiving traffic as a result of using the distributedproxy and cache system. In some embodiments, the optimization efficiencytracker 402 can communicate with other modules, such as the pollschedule manager 358 and/or the traffic analyzer 336 to identify andtrack this data. In some embodiments, the optimization efficiencytracker 402 can communicate with the optimization efficiency tracker 402on the client side to identify and track this data.

The data statistics reporting engine 509 can track, analyze, and/orprovide reports on the total amount of data traffic sent to and frommobile devices. In some embodiments, the data statistics reportingengine 509 can communicate with other modules, for example, the pollschedule manager 358 and/or the traffic analyzer 336 to identify andtrack this data. In some embodiments, the data statistics reportingengine 509 can communicate with the data use tracker 405 on the clientside to identify and track this data.

The application statistics reporting engine 505 can track, analyze,and/or provide reports on each of the applications running on mobiledevices using the distributed proxy and cache system. Examples ofreports generated by the application statistics reporting engine 505working in conjunction with the optimization reporting engine 509, theuser statistics reporting engine 510, the data statistics reportingengine 505 are shown in FIGS. 1L-1O. FIG. 1L shows an example report ofthe top ten mobile device applications ranked according to the highestconnection optimization achieved over the last month. FIG. 1M shows anexample report of the top ten mobile device applications rankedaccording to the number of users running the application over the lastmonth. FIG. 1N shows an example report of the top ten mobile deviceapplications ranked according to the amount of data consumed. And FIG.1O shows an example report of the top ten mobile device applicationsranked according to the amount of time the application was connected toa network.

The device statistics reporting engine 506 can track, analyze, and/orprovide reports on each of the different types of mobile devices usingthe distributed proxy and cache system. Examples of reports generated bythe device statistics reporting engine 506 working in conjunction withthe optimization reporting engine 509, the user statistics reportingengine 510, and the data statistics reporting engine 505 are shown inFIGS. 1P-1S. FIG. 1P shows an example report of the top ten mobiledevices ranked according to the greatest connection optimization. FIG.1Q shows an example report of the top ten mobile devices rankedaccording to the number of users. FIG. 1R shows an example report of thetop mobile devices ranked according to the amount of data consumed.

In some embodiments, the device statistics reporting engine 506 cancommunicate with the battery consumption tracker 406 on the client sideto aggregate battery consumption data as a function of device type. FIG.1S shows an example report of the top ten mobile devices rankedaccording to the percentage of battery consumption per hour.

The trending engine 507 can work in conjunction with the user statisticsreporting engine 510, the application statistics reporting engine 505,the data statistics reporting engine 511, and/or the device statisticsreporting engine 506 to generate standard reports that can be deliveredto mobile operators on a regular basis, e.g., daily or monthly, and thestandard reports can include trend charts and cumulative area charts.For example, the trending engine 507 can generate trend charts for totaloptimization efficiency that shows overall optimization efficiency, forexample, according to the number of bytes of data traffic eliminated,radio state changes eliminated, or radio connection time not used, fortraffic over a mobile network and for absolute traffic for both Wi-Fiand mobile networks. As another example, the trending engine 507 cangenerate trend charts that show the total number of current users andnew users within a certain time period of the distributed proxy andcache system. As yet another example, the trending engine 507 cangenerate trend charts that show percentage of battery consumption perhour. These trending charts can be generated for daily reports whichinclude accumulated information for a period of, for example, 30 days,or for monthly reports which include accumulated information for aperiod of 12 months.

In some embodiments, the trending engine 507 can work in conjunctionwith the user statistics reporting engine 510, the applicationstatistics reporting engine 505, the data statistics reporting engine511, and/or the device statistics reporting engine 506 to generatecumulative area charts. For example, the trending engine 507 cangenerate cumulative area charts that show the total data traffic and thetotal saved traffic for traffic over a mobile network and for absolutetraffic for both Wi-Fi and mobile networks. As another example, thetrending engine 507 can generate cumulative area charts that show actualand saved signaling connections for traffic over a mobile network andfor absolute traffic for both Wi-Fi and mobile networks. As yet anotherexample, the trending engine 507 can generate cumulative area chartsthat show actual and saved connection time for traffic over a mobilenetwork and for absolute traffic for both Wi-Fi and mobile networks.These cumulative area charts can be generated for daily reports whichinclude accumulated information for a period of, for example, 30 days,or for monthly reports which include accumulated information for aperiod of 12 months.

The rankings engine 508 can also work in conjunction with the userstatistics reporting engine 510, the application statistics reportingengine 505, the data statistics reporting engine 511, and/or the devicestatistics reporting engine 506 to generate standard reports that can bedelivered to mobile operators on a regular basis, e.g., daily ormonthly, and the standard reports can include ranking reports. Rankingreports show top ranked devices, e.g. top ten, and top applicationsbased on signaling efficiency, number of users, traffic data,connections data, and/or battery consumption data (device aggregationonly).

The trend engine 507 and the rankings engine 508 can each also generateadvanced reports that include a richer set of reports than standardreports, including efficiency, data, battery, and signaling reports perapplication, device type, bearer type, host and operation as well asranking reports (top devices, top applications, top bearers, top hosts,and top protocols). The reports can be generated on an hourly, daily,weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. The advanced reporting service canalso export raw data (up to transaction level) collected both by clientside-proxy and/or the server-side proxy in any of the formats listedabove to third party servers.

Advanced trend reports can be generated by the trend engine 507 and caninclude, for example: multiple trend efficiency reports (efficiency byapplication, by bearer, by device, by operation, and by host); multipletrend data reports (total data by application, by bearer, by device, byoperation, and by host); multiple trend battery and signaling reports(total battery consumption, total radio state transitions, and totaltime connected); and multiple trend user reports (total users byapplication, by bearer, by host, by operation, and by device).

Advanced rankings reports can be generated by the rankings engine 508and can include, for example: top devices reports (top devices byefficiency percentage, top devices by number of active devices, topdevices by number of total devices); top applications reports (topapplications by efficiency percentage, top applications by amount ofdata sent/received, top applications by number of total users); topbearers reports (top bearer by efficiency percentage, top bearer bynumber of active units, top bearer by number of total units); top hostsreports (top hosts by efficiency percentage, top host by number ofactive device units, top hosts by number of total device units); and topprotocol reports (top protocol by efficiency percentage, top protocol byapplications by amount of data sent/received, top protocol by number oftotal users). Additionally, the advanced reporting service can deliverreports in multiple formats including but not limited to: PDF, CSV,Plain Text Format, Excel (.xls), HTML, and RTF.

The customized analysis reporting engine 504 can use big datatechnologies for managing, analyzing, visualizing, and extracting usefulinformation from the large quantities of data tracked and stored in theanalytics cache 512 over a long time period. For example, the customizedanalysis reporting engine 504 has the capability to store and processdetailed transactional information covering more than two years. Theavailability of the transactional data allows unlimited analysis of thedata and trending of historical records over many years.

Further, reporting can be delivered as a separate professional servicesproject. Examples of custom analyses can include: analysis, comparison,and trending across single or multiple dimensions simultaneously;time-of-day, day-of-the-week analyses with trending over time;time-series analyses (for example, which applications promote use ofother applications); predictive analyses (for example, usage profilepredicting increase in usage or bad behavior and usage profilepredicting churn); alerts for crossing trend lines and changing trends(for example, identifying viral take-up of a new application); and datafeed to CRM (customer relationship management), network operations,and/or policy management in real-time, on an hourly, daily, weekly ormonthly basis.

In summary, some reports which may be generated by the system areillustrated in the example FIGS. 1E-1R and can include, for example:

Standard Reports—Standard reports can be delivered to mobile operatorson a regular basis (daily and monthly). The standard reports caninclude, for example:

Daily Reports: Daily reports include accumulated information for aperiod of 30 days. Daily reports can include, for example:

Total Optimization Efficiency—Trend chart showing overall optimizationefficiency (bytes, radio state changes, radio connection time) fortraffic over mobile network and absolute traffic (Wi-Fi and Mobile).

Total Users—Trend chart showing the current and new users.

Total Data: Cumulative area chart showing the total data traffic andtotal saved traffic for traffic over mobile network and absolute traffic(Wi-Fi and Mobile).

Total Connection (Signaling)—Cumulative area chart showing actual andsaved connections for traffic over mobile network and absolute traffic(Wi-Fi and Mobile).

Total Time Connected—Cumulative area chart showing actual and savedconnection time for traffic over mobile network and absolute traffic(Wi-Fi and Mobile)

Total Battery Consumption—Trend Chart showing Battery consumption perhour

Monthly Reports: Monthly reports include accumulated information for aperiod of 12 months. Monthly reports are described below:

Total Efficiency—Trend chart showing overall optimization efficiency(bytes, radio state changes, radio connection time) for traffic overmobile network and absolute traffic (Wi-Fi and Mobile).

Total Users—Trend chart showing the current and new users.

Total Data—Cumulative area chart showing the total data traffic andtotal saved traffic for traffic over mobile network and absolute traffic(Wi-Fi and Mobile).

Total Signaling—Cumulative area chart showing actual and savedconnections for traffic over mobile network and absolute traffic (Wi-Fiand Mobile).

Total Time Connected—Cumulative area chart showing actual and savedconnection time for traffic over mobile network and absolute traffic(Wi-Fi and Mobile).

Total Battery Consumption—Trend Chart showing Battery consumption.

Total Ranking Reports—Ranking reports show top 10 ranked devices andapplications based on signaling efficiency, no. of users, traffic data,connections data, battery consumption data (device aggregation only)

Advanced Reports—Advanced report service can include a richer set ofreports than standard reporting including Efficiency, Data, Battery, andSignaling Reports per application, device type, bearer type, host andoperation as well as ranking reports (top devices, top applications, topbearers, top hosts, and top protocols. The reports can be generated onan hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. The advancedreporting service can also export raw data (up to transaction level)collected both by client side-proxy and/or the server-side proxy in anyof the formats listed above to third party servers. Advanced trend andrankings reports can include, for example:

Advanced Trend Reports

-   -   Multiple Trend Efficiency Reports (efficiency by application, by        bearer, by device, by operation and by host).    -   Multiple Trend Data Reports (total data by application, by        bearer, by device, by operation, by host).    -   Multiple Trend Battery & Signaling Reports (total battery        consumption, total radio state transitions, total time        connected).    -   Multiple Trend User Reports (total users by application, by        bearer, by host, by operation, by device).

Advanced Rankings Reports

-   -   Top Devices Reports (top devices by efficiency (%), top devices        by # of active devices, top devices by # of total devices).    -   Top Applications Reports (top applications by efficiency (%),        top applications by amount of data sent/received, top        applications by # of total users).    -   Top Bearers Reports (top bearer by efficiency (%), top bearer by        # of active units, top bearer by # of total units).    -   Top Hosts Reports (top hosts by efficiency (%), top host by # of        active device units, top hosts by # of total device units).    -   Top Protocol Reports (top protocol by efficiency (%), top        protocol by applications by amount of data sent/received, top        protocol by # of total users).

The advanced reporting service can deliver reports in multiple formatsincluding but not limited to: PDF, CSV, Plain Text Format, Excel (.xls),HTML, RTF.

Custom Analysis and Data Availability

Built on “Big Data” technologies, the Reporting & Usage AnalysisComponent has the capability to store and process detailed transactionalinformation for over two years. This availability of the transactionaldata, allows unlimited “slicing and dicing” of the data and trending ofhistorical records for many years. Reporting can be delivered as aseparate Professional Services project. Examples of custom analyses caninclude:

-   -   Analysis, comparison, trending across single or multiple        dimensions simultaneously    -   Time-of-the-day, day-of-the-week analyses with trending over        time    -   Time-series analyses (for example, which applications promote        use of others)    -   Predictive analyses (for example, usage profile predicting        increase in usage or bad behavior; usage profile predicting        churn)    -   Alerts for crossing trend lines, changing trends (for example,        Identifying viral take-up of a new application)    -   Data feed to CRM/network operations/policy management in        real-time, hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis

The customer service assistant 503 can provide any or all of the aboveinformation to a service provider and/or its customer serviceprovider/call center 198. The customer service assistant 503, being onthe server-side of the distributed system, can generate and provideaggregate information and data across multiple devices, multiple users,multiple networks, multiple users in a given network, for a specificgeographical location, etc. The customer service assistant 503 cangenerate and provide historical statistics to network service providers,operators, and/or the respective customer service providers/call centers198 for use in system monitoring or maintenance, and/or for providingcustomer service or responding to customer service requests/calls. Thecustomer service assistant 503 can also provide data/analytics specificto one given user or any information specific to a given call orcustomer service request to the call center 198.

For example, if a user inquires of the call center 198 why a certainapplication is not working, current network availability (bandwidth,congestion) and/or application information may be provided to the callcenter 198. In some cases the call center 198 can query the customerservice assistant 503 or request specific information, for generalmonitoring purposes and/or to service a specific call/question/user. Insome cases, the customer service assistant 503 periodically sends aplurality of predetermined reports to the call center 198 so that thecall center 198 can provide a response using real-time and historicalmobile application and traffic-related statistics collected by thetraffic management and optimization system.

FIG. 4A depicts a block diagram illustrating an example of client-sidecomponents in a distributed proxy and/or cache system (e.g.,(distributed) traffic optimizer, traffic management system,(distributed) content caching mechanism for traffic alleviation) (e.g.,(distributed) traffic optimizer, traffic management system,(distributed) content caching mechanism for traffic alleviation)residing on a mobile device (e.g., wireless device) 250 that managestraffic in a wireless network (or broadband network) for resourceconservation, content caching, and/or traffic management. Theclient-side proxy (or local proxy 275) can further categorize mobiletraffic and/or implement delivery policies based on applicationbehavior, content priority, user activity, and/or user expectations. Theclient-side components/proxy 275 can further facilitate using a user asan end point for profiling and optimizing the delivery of content anddata in a wireless network.

The mobile device 250, which can be a portable or mobile device (e.g.,any wireless device), such as a portable phone, generally includes, forexample, a network interface 208 an operating system 204, a context API206, and mobile applications which may be proxy-unaware 210 orproxy-aware 220. Note that the mobile device 250 is specificallyillustrated in the example of FIG. 4A-4C as a mobile device, such is nota limitation and that device 250 may be any wireless, broadband,portable/mobile or non-portable device able to receive, transmit signalsto satisfy data requests over a network including wired or wirelessnetworks (e.g., WiFi, cellular, Bluetooth, LAN, WAN, etc.).

The network interface 208 can be a networking module that enables themobile device 250 to mediate data in a network with an entity that isexternal to the host server 250, through any known and/or convenientcommunications protocol supported by the host and the external entity.The network interface 208 can include one or more of a network adaptorcard, a wireless network interface card (e.g., SMS interface, WiFiinterface, interfaces for various generations of mobile communicationstandards including but not limited to 2G, 3G, 3.5G, 4G, LTE, etc.,),Bluetooth, or whether or not the connection is via a router, an accesspoint, a wireless router, a switch, a multilayer switch, a protocolconverter, a gateway, a bridge, a bridge router, a hub, a digital mediareceiver, and/or a repeater.

Device 250 can further include, client-side components of thedistributed proxy and/or cache system (e.g., (distributed) trafficoptimizer, traffic management system, (distributed) content cachingmechanism for traffic alleviation) (e.g., (distributed) trafficoptimizer, traffic management system, (distributed) content cachingmechanism for traffic alleviation) which can include, a local proxy 275(e.g., a mobile client of a mobile device) and a cache 285. In oneembodiment, the local proxy 275 includes a user activity module 215, aproxy API 225, a request/transaction manager 235, a caching policymanager 245 having an application protocol module 248, a traffic shapingengine 255, and/or a connection manager 265. The traffic shaping engine255 may further include an alignment module 256 and/or a batching module257, the connection manager 265 may further include a radio controller266. The request/transaction manager 235 can further include anapplication behavior detector 236 and/or a prioritization engine 241,the application behavior detector 236 may further include a patterndetector 237 and/or and application profile generator 239. Additional orless components/modules/engines can be included in the local proxy 275and each illustrated component.

As used herein, a “module,” “a manager,” a “handler,” a “detector,” an“interface,” a “controller,” a “normalizer,” a “generator,” an“invalidator,” or an “engine” includes a general purpose, dedicated orshared processor and, typically, firmware or software modules that areexecuted by the processor. Depending upon implementation-specific orother considerations, the module, manager, handler, detector, interface,controller, normalizer, generator, invalidator, or engine can becentralized or its functionality distributed. The module, manager,handler, detector, interface, controller, normalizer, generator,invalidator, or engine can include general or special purpose hardware,firmware, or software embodied in a computer-readable (storage) mediumfor execution by the processor.

As used herein, a computer-readable medium or computer-readable storagemedium is intended to include all mediums that are statutory (e.g., inthe United States, under 35 U.S.C. 101), and to specifically exclude allmediums that are non-statutory in nature to the extent that theexclusion is necessary for a claim that includes the computer-readable(storage) medium to be valid. Known statutory computer-readable mediumsinclude hardware (e.g., registers, random access memory (RAM),non-volatile (NV) storage, to name a few), but may or may not be limitedto hardware.

In one embodiment, a portion of the distributed proxy and/or cachesystem (e.g., (distributed) traffic optimizer, traffic managementsystem, (distributed) content caching mechanism for traffic alleviation)(e.g., (distributed) traffic optimizer, traffic management system,(distributed) content caching mechanism for traffic alleviation) fornetwork traffic management resides in or is in communication with device250, including local proxy 275 (mobile client) and/or cache 285. Thelocal proxy 275 can provide an interface on the mobile device 250 forusers to access device applications and services including email, IM,voice mail, visual voicemail, feeds, Internet, games, productivitytools, or other applications, etc.

The proxy 275 is generally application independent and can be used byapplications (e.g., both proxy-aware and proxy-unaware applications 210and 220 and other mobile applications) to open TCP connections to aremote server (e.g., the server 100 in the examples of FIG. 1B-1E and/orserver proxy 125/325 shown in the examples of FIG. 1B-FIG. 1D, FIG.3A-FIG. 3B, and FIG. 5A-5C). In some instances, the local proxy 275includes a proxy API 225 which can be optionally used to interface withproxy-aware applications 220 (or applications (e.g., mobileapplications) on a mobile device (e.g., any wireless device)).

The applications 210 and 220 can generally include any user application,widgets, software, HTTP-based application, web browsers, video or othermultimedia streaming or downloading application, video games, socialnetwork applications, email clients, RSS management applications,application stores, document management applications, productivityenhancement applications, etc. The applications can be provided with thedevice OS, by the device manufacturer, by the network service provider,downloaded by the user, or provided by others.

One embodiment of the local proxy 275 includes or is coupled to acontext API 206, as shown. The context API 206 may be a part of theoperating system 204 or device platform or independent of the operatingsystem 204, as illustrated. The operating system 204 can include anyoperating system including but not limited to, any previous, current,and/or future versions/releases of, Windows Mobile, iOS, Android,Symbian, Palm OS, Brew MP, Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), Blackberry, etc.

The context API 206 may be a plug-in to the operating system 204 or aparticular client/application on the mobile device 250. The context API206 can detect signals indicative of user or device activity, forexample, sensing motion, gesture, device location, changes in devicelocation, device backlight, keystrokes, clicks, activated touch screen,mouse click or detection of other pointer devices. The context API 206can be coupled to input devices or sensors on the mobile device 250 toidentify these signals. Such signals can generally include inputreceived in response to explicit user input at an input device/mechanismat the mobile device 250 and/or collected from ambientsignals/contextual cues detected at or in the vicinity of the mobiledevice 250 (e.g., light, motion, piezoelectric, etc.).

In one embodiment, the user activity module 215 interacts with thecontext API 206 to identify, determine, infer, detect, compute, predict,and/or anticipate, characteristics of user activity on the mobile device250. Various inputs collected by the context API 206 can be aggregatedby the user activity module 215 to generate a profile forcharacteristics of user activity. Such a profile can be generated by theuser activity module 215 with various temporal characteristics. Forinstance, user activity profile can be generated in real-time for agiven instant to provide a view of what the user is doing or not doingat a given time (e.g., defined by a time window, in the last minute, inthe last 30 seconds, etc.), a user activity profile can also begenerated for a ‘session’ defined by an application or web page thatdescribes the characteristics of user behavior with respect to aspecific task they are engaged in on the mobile device 250, or for aspecific time period (e.g., for the last 2 hours, for the last 5 hours).

Additionally, characteristic profiles can be generated by the useractivity module 215 to depict a historical trend for user activity andbehavior (e.g., 1 week, 1 mo., 2 mo., etc.). Such historical profilescan also be used to deduce trends of user behavior, for example, accessfrequency at different times of day, trends for certain days of the week(weekends or week days), user activity trends based on location data(e.g., IP address, GPS, or cell tower coordinate data) or changes inlocation data (e.g., user activity based on user location, or useractivity based on whether the user is on the go, or traveling outside ahome region, etc.) to obtain user activity characteristics.

In one embodiment, user activity module 215 can detect and track useractivity with respect to applications, documents, files, windows, icons,and folders on the mobile device 250. For example, the user activitymodule 215 can detect when an application or window (e.g., a web browseror any other type of application) has been exited, closed, minimized,maximized, opened, moved into the foreground, or into the background,multimedia content playback, etc.

In one embodiment, characteristics of the user activity on the mobiledevice 250 can be used to locally adjust behavior of the device (e.g.,mobile device or any wireless device) to optimize its resourceconsumption such as battery/power consumption and more generally,consumption of other device resources including memory, storage, andprocessing power. In one embodiment, the use of a radio on a device canbe adjusted based on characteristics of user behavior (e.g., by theradio controller 266 of the connection manager 265) coupled to the useractivity module 215. For example, the radio controller 266 can turn theradio on or off, based on characteristics of the user activity on themobile device 250. In addition, the radio controller 266 can adjust thepower mode of the radio (e.g., to be in a higher power mode or lowerpower mode) depending on characteristics of user activity.

In one embodiment, characteristics of the user activity on mobile device250 can also be used to cause another device (e.g., other computers, amobile device, a wireless device, or a non-portable device) or server(e.g., host server 100 and 300 in the examples of FIG. 1B-1D and FIG.3A-FIG. 3B) which can communicate (e.g., via a cellular or othernetwork) with the mobile device 250 to modify its communicationfrequency with the mobile device 250. The local proxy 275 can use thecharacteristics information of user behavior determined by the useractivity module 215 to instruct the remote device as to how to modulateits communication frequency (e.g., decreasing communication frequency,such as data push frequency if the user is idle, requesting that theremote device notify the mobile device 250 if new data, changed, data,or data of a certain level of importance becomes available, etc.).

In one embodiment, the user activity module 215 can, in response todetermining that user activity characteristics indicate that a user isactive after a period of inactivity, request that a remote device (e.g.,host server 100 and 300 in the examples of FIG. 1B-1D and FIG. 3A-FIG.3B) send the data that was buffered as a result of the previouslydecreased communication frequency.

In addition, or in alternative, the local proxy 275 can communicate thecharacteristics of user activity at the mobile device 250 to the remotedevice (e.g., host server 100 and 300 in the examples of FIG. 1B-1D andFIG. 3A-FIG. 3B) and the remote device determines how to alter its owncommunication frequency with the mobile device 250 for network resourceconservation and conservation of device 250 resources.

One embodiment of the local proxy 275 further includes arequest/transaction manager 235, which can detect, identify, intercept,process, manage, data requests initiated on the mobile device 250, forexample, by applications 210 and/or 220, and/or directly/indirectly by auser request. The request/transaction manager 235 can determine how andwhen to process a given request or transaction, or a set ofrequests/transactions, based on transaction characteristics.

The request/transaction manager 235 can prioritize requests ortransactions made by applications and/or users at the mobile device 250,for example by the prioritization engine 241. Importance or priority ofrequests/transactions can be determined by the request/transactionmanager 235 by applying a rule set, for example, according to timesensitivity of the transaction, time sensitivity of the content in thetransaction, time criticality of the transaction, time criticality ofthe data transmitted in the transaction, and/or time criticality orimportance of an application making the request.

In addition, transaction characteristics can also depend on whether thetransaction was a result of user-interaction or other user-initiatedaction on the device (e.g., user interaction with a application (e.g., amobile application)). In general, a time critical transaction caninclude a transaction resulting from a user-initiated data transfer, andcan be prioritized as such. Transaction characteristics can also dependon the amount of data that will be transferred or is anticipated to betransferred as a result of the requested transaction. For example, theconnection manager 265, can adjust the radio mode (e.g., high power orlow power mode via the radio controller 266) based on the amount of datathat will need to be transferred.

In addition, the radio controller 266/connection manager 265 can adjustthe radio power mode (high or low) based on time criticality/sensitivityof the transaction. The radio controller 266 can trigger the use of highpower radio mode when a time-critical transaction (e.g., a transactionresulting from a user-initiated data transfer, an application running inthe foreground, any other event meeting a certain criteria) is initiatedor detected.

In general, the priorities can be set by default, for example, based ondevice platform, device manufacturer, operating system, etc. Prioritiescan alternatively or in additionally be set by the particularapplication; for example, the Facebook application (e.g., a mobileapplication) can set its own priorities for various transactions (e.g.,a status update can be of higher priority than an add friend request ora poke request, a message send request can be of higher priority than amessage delete request, for example), an email client or IM chat clientmay have its own configurations for priority. The prioritization engine241 may include set of rules for assigning priority.

The prioritization engine 241 can also track network providerlimitations or specifications on application or transaction priority indetermining an overall priority status for a request/transaction.Furthermore, priority can in part or in whole be determined by userpreferences, either explicit or implicit. A user, can in general, setpriorities at different tiers, such as, specific priorities forsessions, or types, or applications (e.g., a browsing session, a gamingsession, versus an IM chat session, the user may set a gaming session toalways have higher priority than an IM chat session, which may havehigher priority than web-browsing session). A user can setapplication-specific priorities, (e.g., a user may set Facebook-relatedtransactions to have a higher priority than LinkedIn-relatedtransactions), for specific transaction types (e.g., for all sendmessage requests across all applications to have higher priority thanmessage delete requests, for all calendar-related events to have a highpriority, etc.), and/or for specific folders.

The prioritization engine 241 can track and resolve conflicts inpriorities set by different entities. For example, manual settingsspecified by the user may take precedence over device OS settings,network provider parameters/limitations (e.g., set in default for anetwork service area, geographic locale, set for a specific time of day,or set based on service/fee type) may limit any user-specified settingsand/or application-set priorities. In some instances, a manualsynchronization request received from a user can override some, most, orall priority settings in that the requested synchronization is performedwhen requested, regardless of the individually assigned priority or anoverall priority ranking for the requested action.

Priority can be specified and tracked internally in any known and/orconvenient manner, including but not limited to, a binaryrepresentation, a multi-valued representation, a graded representationand all are considered to be within the scope of the disclosedtechnology.

TABLE I Change Change (initiated on device) Priority (initiated onserver) Priority Send email High Receive email High Delete email LowEdit email Often not (Un)read email Low possible to sync (Low ifpossible) Move message Low New email in deleted Low Read more High itemsDownload High Delete an email Low attachment (Un)Read an email Low NewCalendar event High Move messages Low Edit/change High Any calendarchange High Calendar event Any contact change High Add a contact HighWipe/lock device High Edit a contact High Settings change High Searchcontacts High Any folder change High Change a setting High Connectorrestart High (if no Manual send/receive High changes nothing is sent) IMstatus change Medium Social Network Medium Status Updates Auction outbidor High Sever Weather Alerts High change notification Weather UpdatesLow News Updates Low

Table I above shows, for illustration purposes, some examples oftransactions with examples of assigned priorities in a binaryrepresentation scheme. Additional assignments are possible foradditional types of events, requests, transactions, and as previouslydescribed, priority assignments can be made at more or less granularlevels, e.g., at the session level or at the application level, etc.

As shown by way of example in the above table, in general, lowerpriority requests/transactions can include, updating message status asbeing read, unread, deleting of messages, deletion of contacts; higherpriority requests/transactions, can in some instances include, statusupdates, new IM chat message, new email, calendar eventupdate/cancellation/deletion, an event in a mobile gaming session, orother entertainment related events, a purchase confirmation through aweb purchase or online, request to load additional or download content,contact book related events, a transaction to change a device setting,location-aware or location-based events/transactions, or any otherevents/request/transactions initiated by a user or where the user isknown to be, expected to be, or suspected to be waiting for a response,etc.

Inbox pruning events (e.g., email, or any other types of messages), aregenerally considered low priority and absent other impending events,generally will not trigger use of the radio on the mobile device 250.Specifically, pruning events to remove old email or other content can be‘piggy backed’ with other communications if the radio is not otherwiseon, at the time of a scheduled pruning event. For example, if the userhas preferences set to ‘keep messages for 7 days old,’ then instead ofpowering on the device radio to initiate a message delete from themobile device 250 the moment that the message has exceeded 7 days old,the message is deleted when the radio is powered on next. If the radiois already on, then pruning may occur as regularly scheduled.

The request/transaction manager 235, can use the priorities for requests(e.g., by the prioritization engine 241) to manage outgoing traffic fromthe mobile device 250 for resource optimization (e.g., to utilize thedevice radio more efficiently for battery conservation). For example,transactions/requests below a certain priority ranking may not triggeruse of the radio on the mobile device 250 if the radio is not alreadyswitched on, as controlled by the connection manager 265. In contrast,the radio controller 266 can turn on the radio such a request can besent when a request for a transaction is detected to be over a certainpriority level.

In one embodiment, priority assignments (such as that determined by thelocal proxy 275 or another device/entity) can be used cause a remotedevice to modify its communication with the frequency with the mobiledevice or wireless device. For example, the remote device can beconfigured to send notifications to the mobile device 250 when data ofhigher importance is available to be sent to the mobile device orwireless device.

In one embodiment, transaction priority can be used in conjunction withcharacteristics of user activity in shaping or managing traffic, forexample, by the traffic shaping engine 255. For example, the trafficshaping engine 255 can, in response to detecting that a user is dormantor inactive, wait to send low priority transactions from the mobiledevice 250, for a period of time. In addition, the traffic shapingengine 255 can allow multiple low priority transactions to accumulatefor batch transferring from the mobile device 250 (e.g., via thebatching module 257). In one embodiment, the priorities can be set,configured, or readjusted by a user. For example, content depicted inTable I in the same or similar form can be accessible in a userinterface on the mobile device 250 and for example, used by the user toadjust or view the priorities.

The batching module 257 can initiate batch transfer based on certaincriteria. For example, batch transfer (e.g., of multiple occurrences ofevents, some of which occurred at different instances in time) may occurafter a certain number of low priority events have been detected, orafter an amount of time elapsed after the first of the low priorityevent was initiated. In addition, the batching module 257 can initiatebatch transfer of the cumulated low priority events when a higherpriority event is initiated or detected at the mobile device 250. Batchtransfer can otherwise be initiated when radio use is triggered foranother reason (e.g., to receive data from a remote device such as hostserver 100 or 300). In one embodiment, an impending pruning event(pruning of an inbox), or any other low priority events, can be executedwhen a batch transfer occurs.

In general, the batching capability can be disabled or enabled at theevent/transaction level, application level, or session level, based onany one or combination of the following: user configuration, devicelimitations/settings, manufacturer specification, network providerparameters/limitations, platform-specific limitations/settings, deviceOS settings, etc. In one embodiment, batch transfer can be initiatedwhen an application/window/file is closed out, exited, or moved into thebackground; users can optionally be prompted before initiating a batchtransfer; users can also manually trigger batch transfers.

In one embodiment, the local proxy 275 locally adjusts radio use on themobile device 250 by caching data in the cache 285. When requests ortransactions from the mobile device 250 can be satisfied by contentstored in the cache 285, the radio controller 266 need not activate theradio to send the request to a remote entity (e.g., host server 100 and300 in the examples of FIG. 1B, FIG. 3A, and FIG. 5A or a contentprovider/application server such as the server/provider 110 shown in theexample of FIG. 1B). As such, the local proxy 275 can use the localcache 285 and the cache policy manager 245 to locally store data forsatisfying data requests to eliminate or reduce the use of the deviceradio for conservation of network resources and device batteryconsumption.

In leveraging the local cache, once the request/transaction manager 225intercepts a data request by an application on the mobile device 250,the local repository 285 can be queried to determine if there is anylocally stored response, and also determine whether the response isvalid. When a valid response is available in the local cache 285, theresponse can be provided to the application on the mobile device 250without the mobile device 250 needing to access the cellular network orwireless broadband network.

If a valid response is not available, the local proxy 275 can query aremote proxy (e.g., the server proxy 325 of FIG. 3A) to determinewhether a remotely stored response is valid. If so, the remotely storedresponse (e.g., which may be stored on the server cache 135 or optionalcaching server 199 shown in the example of FIG. 1C) can be provided tothe mobile device, possibly without the mobile device 250 needing toaccess the cellular network, thus relieving consumption of networkresources.

If a valid cache response is not available, or if cache responses areunavailable for the intercepted data request, the local proxy 275, forexample, the caching policy manager 245, can send the data request to aremote proxy (e.g., the server 100 in the examples of FIG. 1A-1B and/orserver proxy 125/325 shown in the examples of FIG. 1B-FIG. 1C, FIG. 3A,and FIG. 5A) which forwards the data request to a content source (e.g.,application server/content provider 110 of FIG. 1A-FIG. 1B) and aresponse from the content source can be provided through the remoteproxy, as will be further described in the description associated withthe example host server 300 of FIG. 3 and FIG. 5. The cache policymanager 245 can manage or process requests that use a variety ofprotocols, including but not limited to HTTP, HTTPS, IMAP, POP, SMTP,XMPP, and/or ActiveSync. The caching policy manager 245 can locallystore responses for data requests in the local database 285 as cacheentries, for subsequent use in satisfying same or similar data requests.

The caching policy manager 245 can request that the remote proxy monitorresponses for the data request and the remote proxy can notify themobile device 250 when an unexpected response to the data request isdetected. In such an event, the cache policy manager 245 can erase orreplace the locally stored response(s) on the mobile device 250 whennotified of the unexpected response (e.g., new data, changed data,additional data, etc.) to the data request. In one embodiment, thecaching policy manager 245 is able to detect or identify the protocolused for a specific request, including but not limited to HTTP, HTTPS,IMAP, POP, SMTP, XMPP, and/or ActiveSync. In one embodiment, applicationspecific handlers (e.g., via the application protocol module 246 of thecaching policy manager 245) on the local proxy 275 allows foroptimization of any protocol that can be port mapped to a handler in thedistributed proxy (e.g., port mapped on the proxy server 325 in theexample of FIG. 3A and FIG. 5A).

In one embodiment, the local proxy 275 notifies the remote proxy suchthat the remote proxy can monitor responses received for the datarequest from the content source for changed results prior to returningthe result to the mobile device 250, for example, when the data requestto the content source has yielded same results to be returned to themobile device. In general, the local proxy 275 can simulate applicationserver responses for applications on the mobile device 250, usinglocally cached content. This can prevent utilization of the cellularnetwork for transactions where new/changed data is not available, thusfreeing up network resources and preventing network congestion.

In one embodiment, the local proxy 275 includes an application behaviordetector 236 to track, detect, observe, monitor, applications (e.g.,proxy-aware and/or unaware applications 210 and 220) accessed orinstalled on the mobile device 250. Application behaviors, or patternsin detected behaviors (e.g., via the pattern detector 237) of one ormore applications accessed on the mobile device 250 can be used by thelocal proxy 275 to optimize traffic in a wireless network needed tosatisfy the data needs of these applications.

For example, based on detected behavior of multiple applications, thetraffic shaping engine 255 can align content requests made by at leastsome of the applications over the network (wireless network) (e.g., viathe alignment module 256). The alignment module 256 can delay orexpedite some earlier received requests to achieve alignment. Whenrequests are aligned, the traffic shaping engine 255 can utilize theconnection manager to poll over the network to satisfy application datarequests. Content requests for multiple applications can be alignedbased on behavior patterns or rules/settings including, for example,content types requested by the multiple applications (audio, video,text, etc.), device (e.g., mobile or wireless device) parameters, and/ornetwork parameters/traffic conditions, network service providerconstraints/specifications, etc.

In one embodiment, the pattern detector 237 can detect recurrences inapplication requests made by the multiple applications, for example, bytracking patterns in application behavior. A tracked pattern caninclude, detecting that certain applications, as a background process,poll an application server regularly, at certain times of day, oncertain days of the week, periodically in a predictable fashion, with acertain frequency, with a certain frequency in response to a certaintype of event, in response to a certain type user query, frequency thatrequested content is the same, frequency with which a same request ismade, interval between requests, applications making a request, or anycombination of the above, for example.

Such recurrences can be used by traffic shaping engine 255 to offloadpolling of content from a content source (e.g., from an applicationserver/content provider 110 of FIG. 1B-FIG. 1C) that would result fromthe application requests that would be performed at the mobile device orwireless device 250 to be performed instead, by a proxy server (e.g.,the proxy server 125 of FIG. 1C or proxy server 325 of FIG. 3A-3B andFIG. 5A-5C) remote from the mobile device 250. Traffic shaping engine255 can decide to offload the polling when the recurrences match a rule.For example, there are multiple occurrences or requests for the sameresource that have exactly the same content, or returned value, or basedon detection of repeatable time periods between requests and responsessuch as a resource that is requested at specific times during the day.The offloading of the polling can decrease the amount of bandwidthconsumption needed by the mobile device 250 to establish a wireless(cellular or other wireless broadband) connection with the contentsource for repetitive content polls.

As a result of the offloading of the polling, locally cached contentstored in the local cache 285 can be provided to satisfy data requestsat the mobile device 250, when content change is not detected in thepolling of the content sources. As such, when data has not changed,application data needs can be satisfied without needing to enable radiouse or occupying cellular bandwidth in a wireless network. When data haschanged and/or new data has been received, the remote entity to whichpolling is offloaded, can notify the mobile device 250. The remoteentity may be the host server 100 or 300 as shown in the examples ofFIG. 1A-FIG. 1B and FIG. 3A and FIG. 5A.

In one embodiment, the local proxy 275 can mitigate the need/use ofperiodic keep-alive messages (heartbeat messages) to maintain TCP/IPconnections, which can consume significant amounts of power thus havingdetrimental impacts on mobile device battery life. The connectionmanager 265 in the local proxy (e.g., the heartbeat manager 267) candetect, identify, and intercept any or all heartbeat (keep-alive)messages being sent from applications.

The heartbeat manager 267 can prevent any or all of these heartbeatmessages from being sent over the cellular, or other network, andinstead rely on the server components or server-side components of thedistributed proxy and/or caching system (e.g., shown in FIG. 3A and FIG.5A) to generate and send the heartbeat messages to maintain a connectionwith the backend (e.g., application server/provider 110 in the exampleof FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B).

The local proxy 275 generally represents any one or a portion of thefunctions described for the individual managers, modules, and/orengines. The local proxy 275 and device 250 can include additional orless components; more or less functions can be included, in whole or inpart, without deviating from the novel art of the disclosure.

FIG. 4B depicts a block diagram illustrating a further example ofcomponents in the cache system shown in the example of FIG. 4A which iscapable of caching and adapting caching strategies for mobileapplication behavior and/or network conditions.

In one embodiment, the caching policy manager 245 includes a metadatagenerator 203, a cache look-up engine 205, a cache appropriatenessdecision engine 246, a poll schedule generator 247, an applicationprotocol module 248, a cache or connect selection engine 249 and/or alocal cache invalidator 244. The cache appropriateness decision engine246 can further include a timing predictor 246 a,a content predictor 246b, a request analyzer 246 c, and/or a response analyzer 246 d, and thecache or connect selection engine 249 includes a response scheduler 249a. The metadata generator 203 and/or the cache look-up engine 205 arecoupled to the cache 285 (or local cache) for modification or additionto cache entries or querying thereof.

The cache look-up engine 205 may further include an ID or URI filter 205a, the local cache invalidator 244 may further include a TTL manager 244a, and the poll schedule generator 247 may further include a scheduleupdate engine 247 a and/or a time adjustment engine 247 b. Oneembodiment of caching policy manager 245 includes an application cachepolicy repository 243. In one embodiment, the application behaviordetector 236 includes a pattern detector 237, a poll interval detector238, an application profile generator 239, and/or a priority engine 241.The poll interval detector 238 may further include a long poll detector238 a having a response/request tracking engine 238 b. The poll intervaldetector 238 may further include a long poll hunting detector 238 c. Theapplication profile generator 239 can further include a response delayinterval tracker 239 a.

The pattern detector 237, application profile generator 239, and thepriority engine 241 were also described in association with thedescription of the pattern detector shown in the example of FIG. 4A. Oneembodiment further includes an application profile repository 242 whichcan be used by the local proxy 275 to store information or metadataregarding application profiles (e.g., behavior, patterns, type of HTTPrequests, etc.)

The cache appropriateness decision engine 246 can detect, assess, ordetermine whether content from a content source (e.g., applicationserver/content provider 110 in the example of FIG. 1B-FIG. 1C) withwhich a mobile device 250 interacts and has content that may be suitablefor caching. For example, the decision engine 246 can use informationabout a request and/or a response received for the request initiated atthe mobile device 250 to determine cacheability, potential cacheability,or non-cacheability. In some instances, the decision engine 246 caninitially verify whether a request is directed to a blacklisteddestination or whether the request itself originates from a blacklistedclient or application. If so, additional processing and analysis may notbe performed by the decision engine 246 and the request may be allowedto be sent over the air to the server to satisfy the request. The blacklisted destinations or applications/clients (e.g., mobile applications)can be maintained locally in the local proxy (e.g., in the applicationprofile repository 242) or remotely (e.g., in the proxy server 325 oranother entity).

In one embodiment, the decision engine 246, for example, via the requestanalyzer 246 c, collects information about an application or clientrequest generated at the mobile device 250. The request information caninclude request characteristics information including, for example,request method. For example, the request method can indicate the type ofHTTP request generated by the mobile application or client. In oneembodiment, response to a request can be identified as cacheable orpotentially cacheable if the request method is a GET request or POSTrequest. Other types of requests (e.g., OPTIONS, HEAD, PUT, DELETE,TRACE, or CONNECT) may or may not be cached. In general, HTTP requestswith uncacheable request methods will not be cached.

Request characteristics information can further include informationregarding request size, for example. Responses to requests (e.g., HTTPrequests) with body size exceeding a certain size will not be cached.For example, cacheability can be determined if the information about therequest indicates that a request body size of the request does notexceed a certain size. In some instances, the maximum cacheable requestbody size can be set to 8092 bytes. In other instances, different valuesmay be used, dependent on network capacity or network operator specificsettings, for example.

In some instances, content from a given application server/contentprovider (e.g., the server/content provider 110 of FIG. 1B and FIG. 1C)is determined to be suitable for caching based on a set of criteria, forexample, criteria specifying time criticality of the content that isbeing requested from the content source. In one embodiment, the localproxy (e.g., the local proxy 175 or 275 of FIG. 1B-FIG. 1C and FIG. 2Aand FIG. 4A) applies a selection criteria to store the content from thehost server which is requested by an application as cached elements in alocal cache on the mobile device to satisfy subsequent requests made bythe application.

The cache appropriateness decision engine 246, further based on detectedpatterns of requests sent from the mobile device 250 (e.g., by a mobileapplication or other types of clients on the mobile device 250) and/orpatterns of received responses, can detect predictability in requestsand/or responses. For example, the request characteristics informationcollected by the decision engine 246, (e.g., the request analyzer 246 c)can further include periodicity information between a request and otherrequests generated by a same client on the mobile device or otherrequests directed to the same host (e.g., with similar or sameidentifier parameters).

Periodicity can be detected, by the decision engine 246 or the requestanalyzer 246 c, when the request and the other requests generated by thesame client occur at a fixed rate or nearly fixed rate, or at a dynamicrate with some identifiable or partially or wholly reproducible changingpattern. If the requests are made with some identifiable pattern (e.g.,regular intervals, intervals having a detectable pattern, or trend(e.g., increasing, decreasing, constant, etc.) the timing predictor 246a can determine that the requests made by a given application on adevice is predictable and identify it to be potentially appropriate forcaching, at least from a timing standpoint.

An identifiable pattern or trend can generally include any applicationor client behavior which may be simulated either locally, for example,on the local proxy 275 on the mobile device 250 or simulated remotely,for example, by the proxy server 325 on the host 300, or a combinationof local and remote simulation to emulate application behavior.

In one embodiment, the decision engine 246, for example, via theresponse analyzer 246 d, can collect information about a response to anapplication or client request generated at the mobile device 250. Theresponse is typically received from a server or the host of theapplication (e.g., mobile application) or client which sent the requestat the mobile device 250. In some instances, the mobile client orapplication can be the mobile version of an application (e.g., socialnetworking, search, travel management, voicemail, contact manager,email) or a web site accessed via a web browser or via a desktop client.

For example, response characteristics information can include anindication of whether transfer encoding or chunked transfer encoding isused in sending the response. In some instances, responses to HTTPrequests with transfer encoding or chunked transfer encoding are notcached, and therefore are also removed from further analysis. Therationale here is that chunked responses are usually large andnon-optimal for caching, since the processing of these transactions maylikely slow down the overall performance. Therefore, in one embodiment,cacheability or potential for cacheability can be determined whentransfer encoding is not used in sending the response.

In addition, the response characteristics information can include anassociated status code of the response which can be identified by theresponse analyzer 246 d. In some instances, HTTP responses withuncacheable status codes are typically not cached. The response analyzer246 d can extract the status code from the response and determinewhether it matches a status code which is cacheable or uncacheable. Somecacheable status codes include by way of example: 200-OK, 301-Redirect,302-Found, 303-See other, 304-Not Modified, 307Temporary Redirect, or500-Internal server error. Some uncacheable status codes can include,for example, 403-Forbidden or 404-Not found.

In one embodiment, cacheability or potential for cacheability can bedetermined if the information about the response does not indicate anuncacheable status code or indicates a cacheable status code. If theresponse analyzer 246 d detects an uncacheable status code associatedwith a given response, the specific transaction (request/response pair)may be eliminated from further processing and determined to beuncacheable on a temporary basis, a semi-permanent, or a permanentbasis. If the status code indicates cacheability, the transaction (e.g.,request and/or response pair) may be subject to further processing andanalysis to confirm cacheability.

Response characteristics information can also include response sizeinformation. In general, responses can be cached locally at the mobiledevice 250 if the responses do not exceed a certain size. In someinstances, the default maximum cached response size is set to 115 KB. Inother instances, the max cacheable response size may be different and/ordynamically adjusted based on operating conditions, network conditions,network capacity, user preferences, network operator requirements, orother application-specific, user specific, and/or device-specificreasons. In one embodiment, the response analyzer 246 d can identify thesize of the response, and cacheability or potential for cacheability canbe determined if a given threshold or max value is not exceeded by theresponse size.

Furthermore, response characteristics information can include responsebody information for the response to the request and other response toother requests generated by a same client on the mobile device, ordirected to a same content host or application server. The response bodyinformation for the response and the other responses can be compared,for example, by the response analyzer 246 d, to prevent the caching ofdynamic content (or responses with content that changes frequently andcannot be efficiently served with cache entries, such as financial data,stock quotes, news feeds, real-time sporting event activities, etc.),such as content that would no longer be relevant or up-to-date if servedfrom cached entries.

The cache appropriateness decision engine 246 (e.g., the contentpredictor 246 b) can definitively identify repeatability or identifyindications of repeatability, potential repeatability, or predictabilityin responses received from a content source (e.g., the contenthost/application server 110 shown in the example of FIG. 1B and FIG.1C). Repeatability can be detected by, for example, tracking at leasttwo responses received from the content source and determines if the tworesponses are the same. For example, cacheability can be determined, bythe response analyzer 246 d, if the response body information for theresponse and the other responses sent by the same mobile client ordirected to the same host/server are same or substantially the same. Thetwo responses may or may not be responses sent in response toconsecutive requests. In one embodiment, hash values of the responsesreceived for requests from a given application are used to determinerepeatability of content (with or without heuristics) for theapplication in general and/or for the specific request. Additional sameresponses may be required for some applications or under certaincircumstances.

Repeatability in received content need not be 100% ascertained. Forexample, responses can be determined to be repeatable if a certainnumber or a certain percentage of responses are the same, or similar.The certain number or certain percentage of same/similar responses canbe tracked over a select period of time, set by default or set based onthe application generating the requests (e.g., whether the applicationis highly dynamic with constant updates or less dynamic with infrequentupdates). Any indicated predictability or repeatability, or possiblerepeatability, can be utilized by the distributed system in cachingcontent to be provided to a requesting application or client on themobile device 250.

In one embodiment, the timing predictor 246 a of the cacheappropriateness decision engine 246 can track timing of responsesreceived from outgoing requests from an application (e.g., mobileapplication) or client to detect any identifiable patterns which can bepartially wholly reproducible, such that locally cached responses can beprovided to the requesting client on the mobile device 250 in a mannerthat simulates content source (e.g., application server/content provider110 or 310) behavior. For example, the manner in which (e.g., from atiming standpoint) responses or content would be delivered to therequesting application/client on the mobile device 250. This ensurespreservation of user experience when responses to application or mobileclient requests are served from a local and/or remote cache instead ofbeing retrieved/received directly from the content source (e.g.,application, content provider 110 or 310).

In one embodiment, the decision engine 246 or the timing predictor 246 adetermines the timing characteristics a given application (e.g., mobileapplication) or client from, for example, the request/response trackingengine 238 b and/or the application profile generator 239 (e.g., theresponse delay interval tracker 239 a). Using the timingcharacteristics, the timing predictor 246 a determines whether thecontent received in response to the requests are suitable or arepotentially suitable for caching. For example, poll request intervalsbetween two consecutive requests from a given application can be used todetermine whether request intervals are repeatable (e.g., constant, nearconstant, increasing with a pattern, decreasing with a pattern, etc.)and can be predicted and thus reproduced at least some of the timeseither exactly or approximated within a tolerance level.

In some instances, the timing characteristics of a given request typefor a specific application, for multiple requests of an application, orfor multiple applications can be stored in the application profilerepository 242. The application profile repository 242 can generallystore any type of information or metadata regarding applicationrequest/response characteristics including timing patterns, timingrepeatability, content repeatability, etc.

The application profile repository 242 can also store metadataindicating the type of request used by a given application (e.g., longpolls, long-held HTTP requests, HTTP streaming, push, COMET push, etc.)Application profiles indicating request type by applications can be usedwhen subsequent same/similar requests are detected, or when requests aredetected from an application which has already been categorized. In thismanner, timing characteristics for the given request type or forrequests of a specific application which has been tracked and/oranalyzed, need not be reanalyzed.

Application profiles can be associated with a time-to-live (e.g., or adefault expiration time). The use of an expiration time for applicationprofiles, or for various aspects of an application or request's profilecan be used on a case by case basis. The time-to-live or actualexpiration time of application profile entries can be set to a defaultvalue or determined individually, or a combination thereof. Applicationprofiles can also be specific to wireless networks, physical networks,network operators, or specific carriers.

One embodiment includes an application blacklist manager 201. Theapplication blacklist manager 201 can be coupled to the applicationcache policy repository 243 and can be partially or wholly internal tolocal proxy or the caching policy manager 245. Similarly, the blacklistmanager 201 can be partially or wholly internal to local proxy or theapplication behavior detector 236. The blacklist manager 201 canaggregate, track, update, manage, adjust, or dynamically monitor a listof destinations of servers/host that are ‘blacklisted,’ or identified asnot cached, on a permanent or temporary basis. The blacklist ofdestinations, when identified in a request, can potentially be used toallow the request to be sent over the (cellular) network for servicing.Additional processing on the request may not be performed since it isdetected to be directed to a blacklisted destination.

Blacklisted destinations can be identified in the application cachepolicy repository 243 by address identifiers including specific URIs orpatterns of identifiers including URI patterns. In general, blacklisteddestinations can be set by or modified for any reason by any partyincluding the user (owner/user of mobile device 250), operatingsystem/mobile platform of device 250, the destination itself, networkoperator (of cellular network), Internet service provider, other thirdparties, or according to a list of destinations for applications knownto be uncacheable/not suited for caching. Some entries in theblacklisted destinations may include destinations aggregated based onthe analysis or processing performed by the local proxy (e.g., cacheappropriateness decision engine 246).

For example, applications or mobile clients on the mobile device forwhich responses have been identified as non-suitable for caching can beadded to the blacklist. Their corresponding hosts/servers may be addedin addition to or in lieu of an identification of the requestingapplication/client on the mobile device 250. Some or all of such clientsidentified by the proxy system can be added to the blacklist. Forexample, for all application clients or applications that aretemporarily identified as not being suitable for caching, only thosewith certain detected characteristics (based on timing, periodicity,frequency of response content change, content predictability, size,etc.) can be blacklisted.

The blacklisted entries may include a list of requesting applications orrequesting clients on the mobile device (rather than destinations) suchthat, when a request is detected from a given application or givenclient, it may be sent through the network for a response, sinceresponses for blacklisted clients/applications are in most circumstancesnot cached.

A given application profile may also be treated or processed differently(e.g., different behavior of the local proxy 275 and the remote proxy325) depending on the mobile account associated with a mobile devicefrom which the application is being accessed. For example, a higherpaying account, or a premier account may allow more frequent access ofthe wireless network or higher bandwidth allowance thus affecting thecaching policies implemented between the local proxy 275 and proxyserver 325 with an emphasis on better performance compared toconservation of resources. A given application profile may also betreated or processed differently under different wireless networkconditions (e.g., based on congestion or network outage, etc.).

Note that cache appropriateness can be determined, tracked, and managedfor multiple clients or applications on the mobile device 250. Cacheappropriateness can also be determined for different requests or requesttypes initiated by a given client or application on the mobile device250. The caching policy manager 245, along with the timing predictor 246a and/or the content predictor 246 b which heuristically determines orestimates predictability or potential predictability, can track, manageand store cacheability information for various application or variousrequests for a given application. Cacheability information may alsoinclude conditions (e.g., an application can be cached at certain timesof the day, or certain days of the week, or certain requests of a givenapplication can be cached, or all requests with a given destinationaddress can be cached) under which caching is appropriate which can bedetermined and/or tracked by the cache appropriateness decision engine246 and stored and/or updated when appropriate in the application cachepolicy repository 243 coupled to the cache appropriateness decisionengine 246.

The information in the application cache policy repository 243 regardingcacheability of requests, applications, and/or associated conditions canbe used later on when same requests are detected. In this manner, thedecision engine 246 and/or the timing and content predictors 246 a/bneed not track and reanalyze request/response timing and contentcharacteristics to make an assessment regarding cacheability. Inaddition, the cacheability information can in some instances be sharedwith local proxies of other mobile devices by way of directcommunication or via the host server (e.g., proxy server 325 of hostserver 300).

For example, cacheability information detected by the local proxy 275 onvarious mobile devices can be sent to a remote host server or a proxyserver 325 on the host server (e.g., host server 300 or proxy server 325shown in the example of FIG. 3A-3B and FIG. 5A-5C, host 100 and proxyserver 125 in the example of FIG. 1B-1E). The remote host or proxyserver can then distribute the information regardingapplication-specific, request-specific cacheability information and/orany associated conditions to various mobile devices or their localproxies in a wireless network or across multiple wireless networks (sameservice provider or multiple wireless service providers) for their use.

In general, the selection criteria for caching can further include, byway of example but not limitation, the state of the mobile deviceindicating whether the mobile device is active or inactive, networkconditions, and/or radio coverage statistics. The cache appropriatenessdecision engine 246 can in any one or any combination of the criteria,and in any order, identifying sources for which caching may be suitable.

Once application servers/content providers having identified or detectedcontent that is potentially suitable for local caching on the mobiledevice 250, the cache policy manager 245 can proceed to cache theassociated content received from the identified sources by storingcontent received from the content source as cache elements in a localcache (e.g., local cache 185 or 285 shown in the examples of FIG. 1B,FIG. 2A and FIG. 4A, respectively) on the mobile device 250.

The response can be stored in the cache 285 (e.g., also referred as thelocal cache) as a cache entry. In addition to the response to a request,the cached entry can include response metadata having additionalinformation regarding caching of the response. The metadata may begenerated by the metadata generator 203 and can include, for example,timing data such as the access time of the cache entry or creation timeof the cache entry. Metadata can include additional information, such asany information suited for use in determining whether the responsestored as the cached entry is used to satisfy the subsequent response.For example, metadata information can further include, request timinghistory (e.g., including request time, request start time, request endtime), hash of the request and/or response, time intervals or changes intime intervals, etc.

The cache entry is typically stored in the cache 285 in association witha time-to-live (TTL), which for example may be assigned or determined bythe TTL manager 244 a of the cache invalidator 244. The time-to-live ofa cache entry is the amount of time the entry is persisted in the cache285 regardless of whether the response is still valid or relevant for agiven request or client/application on the mobile device 250. Forexample, if the time-to-live of a given cache entry is set to 12 hours,the cache entry is purged, removed, or otherwise indicated as havingexceeded the time-to-live, even if the response body contained in thecache entry is still current and applicable for the associated request.

A default time-to-live can be automatically used for all entries unlessotherwise specified (e.g., by the TTL manager 244 a), or each cacheentry can be created with its individual TTL (e.g., determined by theTTL manager 244 a based on various dynamic or static criteria). Notethat each entry can have a single time-to-live associated with both theresponse data and any associated metadata. In some instances, theassociated metadata may have a different time-to-live (e.g., a longertime-to-live) than the response data.

The content source having content for caching can, in addition or inalternate, be identified to a proxy server (e.g., proxy server 125 or325 shown in the examples of FIG. 1B-1C, FIG. 3A and FIG. 5A,respectively) remote from and in wireless communication with the mobiledevice 250 such that the proxy server can monitor the content source(e.g., application server/content provider 110) for new or changed data.Similarly, the local proxy (e.g., the local proxy 175 or 275 of FIG.1B-1C, FIG. 2A and FIG. 4A, respectively) can identify to the proxyserver that content received from a specific application server/contentprovider is being stored as cached elements in the local cache 285.

Once content has been locally cached, the cache policy manager 245, uponreceiving future polling requests to contact the applicationserver/content host (e.g., 110 or 310), can retrieve the cached elementsfrom the local cache to respond to the polling request made at themobile device 250 such that a radio of the mobile device is notactivated to service the polling request. For example, the cache look-upengine 205 can query the cache 285 to identify the response to be servedto a response. The response can be served from the cache in response toidentifying a matching cache entry and also using any metadata storedwith the response in the cache entry. The cache entries can be queriedby the cache look-up engine using a URI of the request or another typeof identifier (e.g., via the ID or URI filter 205 a). The cache-lookupengine 205 can further use the metadata (e.g., extract any timinginformation or other relevant information) stored with the matchingcache entry to determine whether response is still suited for use inbeing served to a current request.

Note that the cache-look-up can be performed by the engine 205 using oneor more of various multiple strategies. In one embodiment, multiplecook-up strategies can be executed sequentially on each entry store dinthe cache 285, until at least one strategy identifies a matching cacheentry. The strategy employed to performing cache look-up can include astrict matching criteria or a matching criteria which allows fornon-matching parameters.

For example, the look-up engine 205 can perform a strict matchingstrategy which searches for an exact match between an identifier (e.g.,a URI for a host or resource) referenced in a present request for whichthe proxy is attempting to identify a cache entry and an identifierstored with the cache entries. In the case where identifiers includeURIs or URLs, the matching algorithm for strict matching will search fora cache entry where all the parameters in the URLs match. For example:

Example 1

1. Cache contains entry for http://test.com/products/2.

2. Request is being made to URI http://test.com/products/

Strict strategy will find a match, since both URIs are same.

Example 2

1. Cache contains entry for http://test.com/products/?query=all

2. Request is being made to URI http://test.com/products/?query=sub

Under the strict strategy outlined above, a match will not be foundsince the URIs differ in the query parameter.

In another example strategy, the look-up engine 205 looks for a cacheentry with an identifier that partially matches the identifierreferences in a present request for which the proxy is attempting toidentify a matching cache entry. For example, the look-up engine 205 maylook for a cache entry with an identifier which differs from the requestidentifier by a query parameter value. In utilizing this strategy, thelook-up engine 205 can collect information collected for multipleprevious requests (e.g., a list of arbitrary parameters in anidentifier) to be later checked with the detected arbitrary parameter inthe current request. For example, in the case where cache entries arestored with URI or URL identifiers, the look-up engine searches for acache entry with a URI differing by a query parameter. If found, theengine 205 can examine the cache entry for information collected duringprevious requests (e.g. a list of arbitrary parameters) and checkedwhether the arbitrary parameter detected in or extracted from thecurrent URI/URL belongs to the arbitrary parameters list.

Example 1

1. Cache contains entry for http://test.com/products/?query=all, wherequery is marked as arbitrary.

2. Request is being made to URI http://text.com/products/?query=sub

Match will be found, since query parameter is marked as arbitrary.

Example 2

1. Cache contains entry for http://test.com/products/?query=all, wherequery is marked as arbitrary.

2. Request is being made to URIhttp://test.com/products/?query=sub&sort=asc

Match will not be found, since current request contains sort parameterwhich is not marked as arbitrary in the cache entry.

Additional strategies for detecting cache hit may be employed. Thesestrategies can be implemented singly or in any combination thereof. Acache-hit can be determined when any one of these strategies determinesa match. A cache miss may be indicated when the look-up engine 205determines that the requested data cannot be served from the cache 285,for any reason. For example, a cache miss may be determined when nocache entries are identified for any or all utilized look-up strategies.

Cache miss may also be determined when a matching cache entry exists butdetermined to be invalid or irrelevant for the current request. Forexample, the look-up engine 205 may further analyze metadata (e.g.,which may include timing data of the cache entry) associated with thematching cache entry to determine whether it is still suitable for usein responding to the present request.

When the look-up engine 205 has identified a cache hit (e.g., an eventindicating that the requested data can be served from the cache), thestored response in the matching cache entry can be served from the cacheto satisfy the request of an application/client.

By servicing requests using cache entries stored in cache 285, networkbandwidth and other resources need not be used to request/receive pollresponses which may have not changed from a response that has alreadybeen received at the mobile device 250. Such servicing and fulfillingapplication (e.g., mobile application) requests locally via cacheentries in the local cache 285 allows for more efficient resource andmobile network traffic utilization and management since the request neednot be sent over the wireless network further consuming bandwidth. Ingeneral, the cache 285 can be persisted between power on/off of themobile device 250, and persisted across application/client refreshes andrestarts.

For example, the local proxy 275, upon receipt of an outgoing requestfrom its mobile device 250 or from an application or other type ofclient on the mobile device 250, can intercept the request and determinewhether a cached response is available in the local cache 285 of themobile device 250. If so, the outgoing request is responded to by thelocal proxy 275 using the cached response on the cache of the mobiledevice. As such, the outgoing request can be filled or satisfied withouta need to send the outgoing request over the wireless network, thusconserving network resources and battery consumption.

In one embodiment, the responding to the requesting application/clienton the mobile device 250 is timed to correspond to a manner in which thecontent server would have responded to the outgoing request over apersistent connection (e.g., over the persistent connection, orlong-held HTTP connection, long poll type connection, that would havebeen established absent interception by the local proxy). The timing ofthe response can be emulated or simulated by the local proxy 275 topreserve application behavior such that end user experience is notaffected, or minimally affected by serving stored content from the localcache 285 rather than fresh content received from the intended contentsource (e.g., content host/application server 110 of FIG. 1B-FIG. 1C).The timing can be replicated exactly or estimated within a toleranceparameter, which may go unnoticed by the user or treated similarly bythe application so as to not cause operation issues.

One embodiment of the cache policy manager 245 includes a poll schedulegenerator 247 which can generate a polling schedule for one or moreapplications on the mobile device 250. The polling schedule can specifya polling interval that can be employed by an entity which is physicallydistinct and/or separate from the mobile device 250 in monitoring thecontent source for one or more applications (such that cached responsescan be verified periodically by polling a host server (host server 110or 310) to which the request is directed) on behalf of the mobiledevice. One example of such an external entity which can monitor thecontent at the source for the mobile device 250 is a proxy server (e.g.,proxy server 125 or 325 shown in the examples of FIG. 1A-1C and FIG.3A-C).

The polling schedule (e.g., including a rate/frequency of polling) canbe determined, for example, based on the interval between the pollingrequests directed to the content source from the mobile device. Thepolling schedule or rate of polling may be determined at the mobiledevice 250 (by the local proxy). In one embodiment, the poll intervaldetector 238 of the application behavior detector 236 can monitorpolling requests directed to a content source from the mobile device 250in order to determine an interval between the polling requests made fromany or all application (e.g., mobile application).

For example, the poll interval detector 238 can track requests andresponses for applications or clients on the mobile device 250. In oneembodiment, consecutive requests are tracked prior to detection of anoutgoing request initiated from the application (e.g., mobileapplication) on the mobile device 250 by the same mobile client orapplication (e.g., mobile application). The polling rate can bedetermined using request information collected for the request for whichthe response is cached. In one embodiment, the rate is determined fromaverages of time intervals between previous requests generated by thesame client which generated the request. For example, a first intervalmay be computed between the current request and a previous request, anda second interval can be computed between the two previous requests. Thepolling rate can be set from the average of the first interval and thesecond interval and sent to the proxy server in setting up the cachingstrategy.

Alternate intervals may be computed in generating an average; forexample, multiple previous requests in addition to two previous requestsmay be used, and more than two intervals may be used in computing anaverage. In general, in computing intervals, a given request need nothave resulted in a response to be received from the host server/contentsource in order to use it for interval computation. In other words, thetiming characteristics of a given request may be used in intervalcomputation, as long as the request has been detected, even if therequest failed in sending, or if the response retrieval failed.

One embodiment of the poll schedule generator 247 includes a scheduleupdate engine 247 a and/or a time adjustment engine 247 b. The scheduleupdate engine 247 a can determine a need to update a rate or pollinginterval with which a given application server/content host from apreviously set value, based on a detected interval change in the actualrequests generated from a client or application (e.g., mobileapplication) on the mobile device 250.

For example, a request for which a monitoring rate was determined maynow be sent from the application (e.g., mobile application) or client ata different request interval. The scheduled update engine 247 a candetermine the updated polling interval of the actual requests andgenerate a new rate, different from the previously set rate to poll thehost at on behalf of the mobile device 250. The updated polling rate canbe communicated to the remote proxy (proxy server 325) over the cellularnetwork for the remote proxy to monitor the given host. In someinstances, the updated polling rate may be determined at the remoteproxy or remote entity which monitors the host.

In one embodiment, the time adjustment engine 247 b can further optimizethe poll schedule generated to monitor the application server/contentsource (110 or 310). For example, the time adjustment engine 247 b canoptionally specify a time to start polling to the proxy server. Forexample, in addition to setting the polling interval at which the proxyserver is to monitor the application, server/content host can alsospecify the time at which an actual request was generated at the mobileclient/application.

However, in some cases, due to inherent transmission delay or addednetwork delays or other types of latencies, the remote proxy serverreceives the poll setup from the local proxy with some delay (e.g., afew minutes, or a few seconds). This has the effect of detectingresponse change at the source after a request is generated by the mobileclient/application causing the invalidate of the cached response tooccur after it has once again been served to the application after theresponse is no longer current or valid.

To resolve this non-optimal result of serving the out-dated content onceagain before invalidating it, the time adjustment engine 247 b canspecify the time (t0) at which polling should begin in addition to therate, where the specified initial time t0 can be specified to the proxyserver 325 as a time that is less than the actual time when the requestwas generated by the mobile app/client. This way, the server polls theresource slightly before the generation of an actual request by themobile client such that any content change can be detected prior to anactual application request. This prevents invalid or irrelevantout-dated content/response from being served once again before freshcontent is served.

In one embodiment, the cache policy manager 245 sends the pollingschedule to the proxy server (e.g., proxy server 125 or 325 shown in theexamples of FIG. 1B-1C and FIG. 3A and FIG. 5A) and can be used by theproxy server in monitoring the content source, for example, for changedor new content (updated response different from the cached responseassociated with a request or application).

The local cache invalidator 244 of the caching policy manager 245 caninvalidate cache elements in the local cache (e.g., cache 185 or 285)when new or changed data (e.g., updated response) is detected from theapplication server/content source for a given request. The cachedresponse can be determined to be invalid for the outgoing request basedon a notification received from the proxy server (e.g., proxy 325 or thehost server 300). The source which provides responses to requests of themobile client can be monitored to determine relevancy of the cachedresponse stored in the cache of the mobile device 250 for the request.For example, the cache invalidator 244 can further remove/delete thecached response from the cache of the mobile device when the cachedresponse is no longer valid for a given request or a given application.

In one embodiment, the cached response is removed from the cache afterit is provided once again to an application which generated the outgoingrequest after determining that the cached response is no longer valid.The cached response can be provided again without waiting for the timeinterval or provided again after waiting for a time interval (e.g., thetime interval determined to be specific to emulate the response delay ina long poll). In one embodiment, the time interval is the response delay‘D’ or an average value of the response delay ‘D’ over two or morevalues.

The new or changed data can be, for example, detected by the proxyserver (e.g., proxy server 125 or 325 shown in the examples of FIG.1B-1C and FIG. 3A and FIG. 5A). When a cache entry for a givenrequest/poll has been invalidated, the use of the radio on the mobiledevice 250 can be enabled (e.g., by the local proxy 275 or the cachepolicy manager 245) to satisfy the subsequent polling requests, asfurther described with reference to the interaction diagram of FIG. 9.

One embodiment of the cache policy manager 245 includes a cache orconnect selection engine 249 which can decide whether to use a locallycached entry to satisfy a poll/content request generated at the mobiledevice 250 by an application or widget. For example, the local proxy 275or the cache policy manger 245 can intercept a polling request, made byan application (e.g., mobile application) on the mobile device, tocontact the application server/content provider. The selection engine249 can determine whether the content received for the interceptedrequest has been locally stored as cache elements for deciding whetherthe radio of the mobile device needs to be activated to satisfy therequest made by the application (e.g., mobile application) and alsodetermine whether the cached response is still valid for the outgoingrequest prior to responding to the outgoing request using the cachedresponse.

In one embodiment, the local proxy 275, in response to determining thatrelevant cached content exists and is still valid, can retrieve thecached elements from the local cache to provide a response to theapplication (e.g., mobile application) which made the polling requestsuch that a radio of the mobile device is not activated to provide theresponse to the application (e.g., mobile application). In general, thelocal proxy 275 continues to provide the cached response each time theoutgoing request is received until the updated response different fromthe cached response is detected.

When it is determined that the cached response is no longer valid, a newrequest for a given request is transmitted over the wireless network foran updated response. The request can be transmitted to the applicationserver/content provider (e.g., server/host 110) or the proxy server onthe host server (e.g., proxy 325 on the host 300) for a new and updatedresponse. In one embodiment the cached response can be provided again asa response to the outgoing request if a new response is not receivedwithin the time interval, prior to removal of the cached response fromthe cache on the mobile device.

FIG. 4C depicts a block diagram illustrating examples of additionalcomponents in the local proxy 275 shown in the example of FIG. 4A whichis further capable of performing mobile traffic categorization andpolicy implementation based on application behavior and/or useractivity.

In this embodiment of the local proxy 275, the user activity module 215further includes one or more of, a user activity tracker 215 a, a useractivity prediction engine 215 b, and/or a user expectation manager 215c. The application behavior detect 236 can further include aprioritization engine 241 a, a time criticality detection engine 241 b,an application state categorizer 241 c, and/or an application trafficcategorizer 241 d. The local proxy 275 can further include a backlightdetector 219 and/or a network configuration selection engine 251. Thenetwork configuration selection engine 251 can further include, one ormore of, a wireless generation standard selector 251 a, a data ratespecifier 251 b, an access channel selection engine 251 c, and/or anaccess point selector.

In one embodiment, the application behavior detector 236 is able todetect, determined, identify, or infer, the activity state of anapplication on the mobile device 250 to which traffic has originatedfrom or is directed to, for example, via the application statecategorizer 241 c and/or the traffic categorizer 241 d. The activitystate can be determined by whether the application is in a foreground orbackground state on the mobile device (via the application statecategorizer 241 c) since the traffic for a foreground application vs. abackground application may be handled differently.

In one embodiment, the activity state can be determined, detected,identified, or inferred with a level of certainty of heuristics, basedon the backlight status of the mobile device 250 (e.g., by the backlightdetector 219) or other software agents or hardware sensors on the mobiledevice, including but not limited to, resistive sensors, capacitivesensors, ambient light sensors, motion sensors, touch sensors, etc. Ingeneral, if the backlight is on, the traffic can be treated as being ordetermined to be generated from an application that is active or in theforeground, or the traffic is interactive. In addition, if the backlightis on, the traffic can be treated as being or determined to be trafficfrom user interaction or user activity, or traffic containing data thatthe user is expecting within some time frame.

In one embodiment, the activity state is determined based on whether thetraffic is interactive traffic or maintenance traffic. Interactivetraffic can include transactions from responses and requests generateddirectly from user activity/interaction with an application and caninclude content or data that a user is waiting or expecting to receive.Maintenance traffic may be used to support the functionality of anapplication which is not directly detected by a user. Maintenancetraffic can also include actions or transactions that may take place inresponse to a user action, but the user is not actively waiting for orexpecting a response.

For example, a mail or message delete action at a mobile device 250generates a request to delete the corresponding mail or message at theserver, but the user typically is not waiting for a response. Thus, sucha request may be categorized as maintenance traffic, or traffic having alower priority (e.g., by the prioritization engine 241 a) and/or is nottime-critical (e.g., by the time criticality detection engine 214 b).

Contrastingly, a mail ‘read’ or message ‘read’ request initiated by auser a the mobile device 250, can be categorized as ‘interactivetraffic’ since the user generally is waiting to access content or datawhen they request to read a message or mail. Similarly, such a requestcan be categorized as having higher priority (e.g., by theprioritization engine 241 a) and/or as being time critical/timesensitive (e.g., by the time criticality detection engine 241 b).

The time criticality detection engine 241 b can generally determine,identify, infer the time sensitivity of data contained in traffic sentfrom the mobile device 250 or to the mobile device from a host server(e.g., host 300) or application server (e.g., app server/content source110). For example, time sensitive data can include, status updates,stock information updates, IM presence information, email messages orother messages, actions generated from mobile gaming applications,webpage requests, location updates, etc. Data that is not time sensitiveor time critical, by nature of the content or request, can includerequests to delete messages, mark-as-read or edited actions,application-specific actions such as a add-friend or delete-friendrequest, certain types of messages, or other information which does notfrequently changing by nature, etc. In some instances when the data isnot time critical, the timing with which to allow the traffic to passthrough is set based on when additional data needs to be sent from themobile device 250. For example, traffic shaping engine 255 can align thetraffic with one or more subsequent transactions to be sent together ina single power-on event of the mobile device radio (e.g., using thealignment module 256 and/or the batching module 257). The alignmentmodule 256 can also align polling requests occurring close in timedirected to the same host server, since these request are likely to beresponded to with the same data.

In the alternate or in combination, the activity state can be determinedfrom assessing, determining, evaluating, inferring, identifying useractivity at the mobile device 250 (e.g., via the user activity module215). For example, user activity can be directly detected and trackedusing the user activity tracker 215 a. The traffic resulting therefromcan then be categorized appropriately for subsequent processing todetermine the policy for handling. Furthermore, user activity can bepredicted or anticipated by the user activity prediction engine 215 b.By predicting user activity or anticipating user activity, the trafficthus occurring after the prediction can be treated as resulting fromuser activity and categorized appropriately to determine thetransmission policy.

In addition, the user activity module 215 can also manage userexpectations (e.g., via the user expectation manager 215 c and/or inconjunction with the activity tracker 215 and/or the prediction engine215 b) to ensure that traffic is categorized appropriately such thatuser expectations are generally met. For example, a user-initiatedaction should be analyzed (e.g., by the expectation manager 215) todetermine or infer whether the user would be waiting for a response. Ifso, such traffic should be handled under a policy such that the userdoes not experience an unpleasant delay in receiving such a response oraction.

In one embodiment, an advanced generation wireless standard network isselected for use in sending traffic between a mobile device and a hostserver in the wireless network based on the activity state of theapplication on the mobile device for which traffic is originated from ordirected to. An advanced technology standards such as the 3G, 3.5G, 3G+,4G, or LTE network can be selected for handling traffic generated as aresult of user interaction, user activity, or traffic containing datathat the user is expecting or waiting for. Advanced generation wirelessstandard network can also be selected for to transmit data contained intraffic directed to the mobile device which responds to foregroundactivities.

In categorizing traffic and defining a transmission policy for mobiletraffic, a network configuration can be selected for use (e.g., by thenetwork configuration selection engine 251) on the mobile device 250 insending traffic between the mobile device and a proxy server (325)and/or an application server (e.g., app server/host 110). The networkconfiguration that is selected can be determined based on informationgathered by the application behavior module 236 regarding applicationactivity state (e.g., background or foreground traffic), applicationtraffic category (e.g., interactive or maintenance traffic), anypriorities of the data/content, time sensitivity/criticality.

The network configuration selection engine 2510 can select or specifyone or more of, a generation standard (e.g., via wireless generationstandard selector 251 a), a data rate (e.g., via data rate specifier 251b), an access channel (e.g., access channel selection engine 251 c),and/or an access point (e.g., via the access point selector 251 d), inany combination.

For example, a more advanced generation (e.g., 3G, LTE, or 4G or later)can be selected or specified for traffic when the activity state is ininteraction with a user or in a foreground on the mobile device.Contrastingly, an older generation standard (e.g., 2G, 2.5G, or 3G orolder) can be specified for traffic when one or more of the following isdetected, the application is not interacting with the user, theapplication is running in the background on the mobile device, or thedata contained in the traffic is not time critical, or is otherwisedetermined to have lower priority.

Similarly, a network configuration with a slower data rate can bespecified for traffic when one or more of the following is detected, theapplication is not interacting with the user, the application is runningin the background on the mobile device, or the data contained in thetraffic is not time critical. The access channel (e.g., Forward accesschannel or dedicated channel) can be specified.

FIG. 5A depicts a block diagram illustrating an example of server-sidecomponents in a distributed proxy and/or cache system (e.g.,(distributed) traffic optimizer, traffic management system,(distributed) content caching mechanism for traffic alleviation) (e.g.,(distributed) traffic optimizer, traffic management system,(distributed) content caching mechanism for traffic alleviation)residing on a host server 300 that manages traffic in a wireless networkfor resource conservation. The server-side proxy (or proxy server 325)can further categorize mobile traffic and/or implement delivery policiesbased on application behavior, content priority, user activity, and/oruser expectations. The proxy server 325 can also facilitate using a useras an end point for profiling and optimizing the delivery of content anddata in a wireless network.

The host server 300 generally includes, for example, a network interface308 and/or one or more repositories 312, 314, and 316. Note that server300 may be any portable/mobile or non-portable device, server, clusterof computers and/or other types of processing units (e.g., any number ofa machine shown in the example of FIG. 21) able to receive or transmitsignals to satisfy data requests over a network including any wired orwireless networks (e.g., WiFi, cellular, Bluetooth, etc.).

The network interface 308 can include networking module(s) or devices(s)that enable the server 300 to mediate data in a network with an entitythat is external to the host server 300, through any known and/orconvenient communications protocol supported by the host and theexternal entity. Specifically, the network interface 308 allows theserver 300 to communicate with multiple devices including mobile phonedevices 350 and/or one or more application servers/content providers310.

The host server 300 can store information about connections (e.g.,network characteristics, conditions, types of connections, etc.) withdevices in the connection metadata repository 312. Additionally, anyinformation about third party application or content providers can alsobe stored in the repository 312. The host server 300 can storeinformation about devices (e.g., hardware capability, properties, devicesettings, device language, network capability, manufacturer, devicemodel, OS, OS version, etc.) in the device information repository 314.Additionally, the host server 300 can store information about networkproviders and the various network service areas in the network serviceprovider repository 316.

The communication enabled by network interface 308 allows forsimultaneous connections (e.g., including cellular connections) withdevices 350 and/or connections (e.g., including wired/wireless, HTTP,Internet connections, LAN, WiFi, etc.) with content servers/providers310 to manage the traffic between devices 350 and content providers 310,for optimizing network resource utilization and/or to conserver power(battery) consumption on the serviced devices 350. The host server 300can communicate with mobile devices 350 serviced by different networkservice providers and/or in the same/different network service areas.The host server 300 can operate and is compatible with devices 350 withvarying types or levels of mobile capabilities, including by way ofexample but not limitation, 1G, 2G, 2G transitional (2.5G, 2.75G), 3G(IMT-2000), 3G transitional (3.5G, 3.75G, 3.9G), 4G (IMT-advanced), etc.

In general, the network interface 308 can include one or more of anetwork adaptor card, a wireless network interface card (e.g., SMSinterface, WiFi interface, interfaces for various generations of mobilecommunication standards including but not limited to 1G, 2G, 3G, 3.5G,4G type networks such as LTE, WiMAX, etc.), Bluetooth, WiFi, or anyother network whether or not connected via a router, an access point, awireless router, a switch, a multilayer switch, a protocol converter, agateway, a bridge, a bridge router, a hub, a digital media receiver,and/or a repeater.

The host server 300 can further include server-side components of thedistributed proxy and/or cache system (e.g., (distributed) trafficoptimizer, traffic management system, (distributed) content cachingmechanism for traffic alleviation) (e.g., (distributed) trafficoptimizer, traffic management system, (distributed) content cachingmechanism for traffic alleviation) which can include a proxy server 325and a server cache 335. In one embodiment, the proxy server 325 caninclude an HTTP access engine 345, a caching policy manager 355, a proxycontroller 365, a traffic shaping engine 375, a new data detector 347and/or a connection manager 395.

The HTTP access engine 345 may further include a heartbeat manager 398;the proxy controller 365 may further include a data invalidator module368; the traffic shaping engine 375 may further include a controlprotocol 376 and a batching module 377. Additional or lesscomponents/modules/engines can be included in the proxy server 325 andeach illustrated component.

As used herein, a “module,” a “manager,” a “handler,” a “detector,” an“interface,” a “controller,” a “normalizer,” a “generator,” an“invalidator,” or an “engine” includes a general purpose, dedicated orshared processor and, typically, firmware or software modules that areexecuted by the processor. Depending upon implementation-specific orother considerations, the module, manager, handler, detector, interface,controller, normalizer, generator, invalidator, or engine can becentralized or its functionality distributed. The module, manager,handler, detector, interface, controller, normalizer, generator,invalidator, or engine can include general or special purpose hardware,firmware, or software embodied in a computer-readable (storage) mediumfor execution by the processor. As used herein, a computer-readablemedium or computer-readable storage medium is intended to include allmediums that are statutory (e.g., in the United States, under 35 U.S.C.101), and to specifically exclude all mediums that are non-statutory innature to the extent that the exclusion is necessary for a claim thatincludes the computer-readable (storage) medium to be valid. Knownstatutory computer-readable mediums include hardware (e.g., registers,random access memory (RAM), non-volatile (NV) storage, to name a few),but may or may not be limited to hardware.

In the example of a device (e.g., mobile device 350) making anapplication or content request to an application server or contentprovider 310, the request may be intercepted and routed to the proxyserver 325 which is coupled to the device 350 and the applicationserver/content provider 310. Specifically, the proxy server is able tocommunicate with the local proxy (e.g., proxy 175 and 275 of theexamples of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 respectively) of the mobile device 350,the local proxy forwards the data request to the proxy server 325 insome instances for further processing and, if needed, for transmissionto the application server/content server 310 for a response to the datarequest.

In such a configuration, the host 300, or the proxy server 325 in thehost server 300 can utilize intelligent information provided by thelocal proxy in adjusting its communication with the device in such amanner that optimizes use of network and device resources. For example,the proxy server 325 can identify characteristics of user activity onthe device 350 to modify its communication frequency. Thecharacteristics of user activity can be determined by, for example, theactivity/behavior awareness module 366 in the proxy controller 365 viainformation collected by the local proxy on the device 350.

In one embodiment, communication frequency can be controlled by theconnection manager 395 of the proxy server 325, for example, to adjustpush frequency of content or updates to the device 350. For instance,push frequency can be decreased by the connection manager 395 whencharacteristics of the user activity indicate that the user is inactive.In one embodiment, when the characteristics of the user activityindicate that the user is subsequently active after a period ofinactivity, the connection manager 395 can adjust the communicationfrequency with the device 350 to send data that was buffered as a resultof decreased communication frequency to the device 350.

In addition, the proxy server 325 includes priority awareness of variousrequests, transactions, sessions, applications, and/or specific events.Such awareness can be determined by the local proxy on the device 350and provided to the proxy server 325. The priority awareness module 367of the proxy server 325 can generally assess the priority (e.g.,including time-criticality, time-sensitivity, etc.) of various events orapplications; additionally, the priority awareness module 367 can trackpriorities determined by local proxies of devices 350.

In one embodiment, through priority awareness, the connection manager395 can further modify communication frequency (e.g., use or radio ascontrolled by the radio controller 396) of the server 300 with thedevices 350. For example, the server 300 can notify the device 350, thusrequesting use of the radio if it is not already in use when data orupdates of an importance/priority level which meets a criteria becomesavailable to be sent.

In one embodiment, the proxy server 325 can detect multiple occurrencesof events (e.g., transactions, content, data received fromserver/provider 310) and allow the events to accumulate for batchtransfer to device 350. Batch transfer can be cumulated and transfer ofevents can be delayed based on priority awareness and/or useractivity/application behavior awareness as tracked by modules 367 and/or366. For example, batch transfer of multiple events (of a lowerpriority) to the device 350 can be initiated by the batching module 377when an event of a higher priority (meeting a threshold or criteria) isdetected at the server 300. In addition, batch transfer from the server300 can be triggered when the server receives data from the device 350,indicating that the device radio is already in use and is thus on. Inone embodiment, the proxy server 325 can order the each messages/packetsin a batch for transmission based on event/transaction priority suchthat higher priority content can be sent first in case connection islost or the battery dies, etc.

In one embodiment, the server 300 caches data (e.g., as managed by thecaching policy manager 355) such that communication frequency over anetwork (e.g., cellular network) with the device 350 can be modified(e.g., decreased). The data can be cached, for example, in the servercache 335 for subsequent retrieval or batch sending to the device 350 topotentially decrease the need to turn on the device 350 radio. Theserver cache 335 can be partially or wholly internal to the host server300, although in the example of FIG. 3A it is shown as being external tothe host 300. In some instances, the server cache 335 may be the same asand/or integrated in part or in whole with another cache managed byanother entity (e.g., the optional caching proxy server 199 shown in theexample of FIG. 1C), such as being managed by an applicationserver/content provider 310, a network service provider, or anotherthird party.

In one embodiment, content caching is performed locally on the device350 with the assistance of host server 300. For example, proxy server325 in the host server 300 can query the application server/provider 310with requests and monitor changes in responses. When changed or newresponses are detected (e.g., by the new data detector 347), the proxyserver 325 can notify the mobile device 350 such that the local proxy onthe device 350 can make the decision to invalidate (e.g., indicated asout-dated) the relevant cache entries stored as any responses in itslocal cache. Alternatively, the data invalidator module 368 canautomatically instruct the local proxy of the device 350 to invalidatecertain cached data, based on received responses from the applicationserver/provider 310. The cached data is marked as invalid, and can getreplaced or deleted when new content is received from the content server310.

Note that data change can be detected by the detector 347 in one or moreways. For example, the server/provider 310 can notify the host server300 upon a change. The change can also be detected at the host server300 in response to a direct poll of the source server/provider 310. Insome instances, the proxy server 325 can in addition, pre-load the localcache on the device 350 with the new/updated data. This can be performedwhen the host server 300 detects that the radio on the mobile device isalready in use, or when the server 300 has additional content/data to besent to the device 350.

One or more the above mechanisms can be implemented simultaneously oradjusted/configured based on application (e.g., different policies fordifferent servers/providers 310). In some instances, the sourceprovider/server 310 may notify the host 300 for certain types of events(e.g., events meeting a priority threshold level). In addition, theprovider/server 310 may be configured to notify the host 300 at specifictime intervals, regardless of event priority.

In one embodiment, the proxy server 325 of the host 300 canmonitor/track responses received for the data request from the contentsource for changed results prior to returning the result to the mobiledevice, such monitoring may be suitable when data request to the contentsource has yielded same results to be returned to the mobile device,thus preventing network/power consumption from being used when no newchanges are made to a particular requested. The local proxy of thedevice 350 can instruct the proxy server 325 to perform such monitoringor the proxy server 325 can automatically initiate such a process uponreceiving a certain number of the same responses (e.g., or a number ofthe same responses in a period of time) for a particular request.

In one embodiment, the server 300, through the activity/behaviorawareness module 366, is able to identify or detect user activity at adevice that is separate from the mobile device 350. For example, themodule 366 may detect that a user's message inbox (e.g., email or typesof inbox) is being accessed. This can indicate that the user isinteracting with his/her application using a device other than themobile device 350 and may not need frequent updates, if at all.

The server 300, in this instance, can thus decrease the frequency withwhich new or updated content is sent to the mobile device 350, oreliminate all communication for as long as the user is detected to beusing another device for access. Such frequency decrease may beapplication specific (e.g., for the application with which the user isinteracting with on another device), or it may be a general frequencydecrease (E.g., since the user is detected to be interacting with oneserver or one application via another device, he/she could also use itto access other services.) to the mobile device 350.

In one embodiment, the host server 300 is able to poll content sources310 on behalf of devices 350 to conserve power or battery consumption ondevices 350. For example, certain applications on the mobile device 350can poll its respective server 310 in a predictable recurring fashion.Such recurrence or other types of application behaviors can be trackedby the activity/behavior module 366 in the proxy controller 365. Thehost server 300 can thus poll content sources 310 for applications onthe mobile device 350 that would otherwise be performed by the device350 through a wireless (e.g., including cellular connectivity). The hostserver can poll the sources 310 for new or changed data by way of theHTTP access engine 345 to establish HTTP connection or by way of radiocontroller 396 to connect to the source 310 over the cellular network.When new or changed data is detected, the new data detector 347 cannotify the device 350 that such data is available and/or provide thenew/changed data to the device 350.

In one embodiment, the connection manager 395 determines that the mobiledevice 350 is unavailable (e.g., the radio is turned off) and utilizesSMS to transmit content to the device 350, for instance, via the SMSCshown in the example of FIG. 1C. SMS is used to transmit invalidationmessages, batches of invalidation messages, or even content in the casewhere the content is small enough to fit into just a few (usually one ortwo) SMS messages. This avoids the need to access the radio channel tosend overhead information. The host server 300 can use SMS for certaintransactions or responses having a priority level above a threshold orotherwise meeting a criteria. The server 300 can also utilize SMS as anout-of-band trigger to maintain or wake-up an IP connection as analternative to maintaining an always-on IP connection.

In one embodiment, the connection manager 395 in the proxy server 325(e.g., the heartbeat manager 398) can generate and/or transmit heartbeatmessages on behalf of connected devices 350 to maintain a backendconnection with a provider 310 for applications running on devices 350.

For example, in the distributed proxy system, local cache on the device350 can prevent any or all heartbeat messages needed to maintain TCP/IPconnections required for applications from being sent over the cellular,or other, network and instead rely on the proxy server 325 on the hostserver 300 to generate and/or send the heartbeat messages to maintain aconnection with the backend (e.g., application server/provider 110 inthe example of FIG. 1B). The proxy server can generate the keep-alive(heartbeat) messages independent of the operations of the local proxy onthe mobile device.

The repositories 312, 314, and/or 316 can additionally store software,descriptive data, images, system information, drivers, and/or any otherdata item utilized by other components of the host server 300 and/or anyother servers for operation. The repositories may be managed by adatabase management system (DBMS), for example, which may be but is notlimited to Oracle, DB2, Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server,PostgreSQL, MySQL, FileMaker, etc.

The repositories can be implemented via object-oriented technologyand/or via text files and can be managed by a distributed databasemanagement system, an object-oriented database management system(OODBMS) (e.g., ConceptBase, FastDB Main Memory Database ManagementSystem, JDOInstruments, ObjectDB, etc.), an object-relational databasemanagement system (ORDBMS) (e.g., Informix, OpenLink Virtuoso, VMDS,etc.), a file system, and/or any other convenient or known databasemanagement package.

FIG. 5B depicts a block diagram illustrating a further example ofcomponents in the caching policy manager 355 in the cache system shownin the example of FIG. 3A which is capable of caching and adaptingcaching strategies for application (e.g., mobile application) behaviorand/or network conditions.

The caching policy manager 355, in one embodiment, can further include ametadata generator 303, a cache look-up engine 305, an applicationprotocol module 356, a content source monitoring engine 357 having apoll schedule manager 358, a response analyzer 361, and/or an updated ornew content detector 359. In one embodiment, the poll schedule manager358 further includes a host timing simulator 358 a, a long poll requestdetector/manager 358 b, a schedule update engine 358 c, and/or a timeadjustment engine 358 d. The metadata generator 303 and/or the cachelook-up engine 305 can be coupled to the cache 335 (or, server cache)for modification or addition to cache entries or querying thereof.

In one embodiment, the proxy server (e.g., the proxy server 125 or 325of the examples of FIG. 1A-1C and FIG. 3A) can monitor a content sourcefor new or changed data via the monitoring engine 357. The proxy server,as shown, is an entity external to the mobile device 250 of FIG. 2A-B.The content source (e.g., application server/content provider 110 ofFIG. 1A-1C) can be one that has been identified to the proxy server(e.g., by the local proxy) as having content that is being locallycached on a mobile device (e.g., mobile device 150 or 250). The contentsource can be monitored, for example, by the monitoring engine 357 at afrequency that is based on polling frequency of the content source atthe mobile device. The poll schedule can be generated, for example, bythe local proxy and sent to the proxy server. The poll frequency can betracked and/or managed by the poll schedule manager 358.

For example, the proxy server can poll the host (e.g., contentprovider/application server) on behalf of the mobile device and simulatethe polling behavior of the client to the host via the host timingsimulator 358 a. The polling behavior can be simulated to includecharacteristics of a long poll request-response sequences experienced ina persistent connection with the host (e.g., by the long poll requestdetector/manager 358 b). Note that once a polling interval/behavior isset, the local proxy 275 on the device-side and/or the proxy server 325on the server-side can verify whether application and applicationserver/content host behavior match or can be represented by thispredicted pattern. In general, the local proxy and/or the proxy servercan detect deviations and, when appropriate, re-evaluate and compute,determine, or estimate another polling interval.

The proxy server can detect new or changed data at a monitored contentsource and transmits a message to the mobile device notifying it of sucha change such that the mobile device (or the local proxy on the mobiledevice) can take appropriate action (e.g., to invalidate the cacheelements in the local cache). In some instances, the proxy server (e.g.,the caching policy manager 355) upon detecting new or changed data canalso store the new or changed data in its cache (e.g., the server cache135 or 335 of the examples of FIG. 1C and FIG. 3A, respectively). Thenew/updated data stored in the server cache 335 can be used in someinstances to satisfy content requests at the mobile device; for example,it can be used after the proxy server has notified the mobile device ofthe new/changed content and that the locally cached content has beeninvalidated.

The metadata generator 303, similar to the metadata generator 203 shownin the example of FIG. 2B, can generate metadata for responses cachedfor requests at the mobile device 250. The metadata generator 303 cangenerate metadata for cache entries stored in the server cache 335.Similarly, the cache look-up engine 305 can include the same or similarfunctions are those described for the cache look-up engine 205 shown inthe example of FIG. 2B.

The response analyzer 361 can perform any or all of the functionalitiesrelated to analyzing responses received for requests generated at themobile device 250 in the same or similar fashion to the responseanalyzer 246 d of the local proxy shown in the example of FIG. 2B. Sincethe proxy server 325 is able to receive responses from the applicationserver/content source 310 directed to the mobile device 250, the proxyserver 325 (e.g., the response analyzer 361) can perform similarresponse analysis steps to determine cacheability, as described for theresponse analyzer of the local proxy. The responses can be analyzed inaddition to or in lieu of the analysis that can be performed at thelocal proxy 275 on the mobile device 250.

Furthermore, the schedule update engine 358 c can update the pollinginterval of a given application server/content host based on applicationrequest interval changes of the application at the mobile device 250 asdescribed for the schedule update engine in the local proxy 275. Thetime adjustment engine 358 d can set an initial time at which polls ofthe application server/content host is to begin to prevent the servingof out of date content once again before serving fresh content asdescribed for the schedule update engine in the local proxy 275. Boththe schedule updating and the time adjustment algorithms can beperformed in conjunction with or in lieu of the similar processesperformed at the local proxy 275 on the mobile device 250.

FIG. 5C depicts a block diagram illustrating examples of additionalcomponents in proxy server 325 shown in the example of FIG. 5A which isfurther capable of performing mobile traffic categorization and policyimplementation based on application behavior and/or traffic priority.

In one embodiment of the proxy server 325, the traffic shaping engine375 is further coupled to a traffic analyzer 336 for categorizing mobiletraffic for policy definition and implementation for mobile traffic andtransactions directed to one or more mobile devices (e.g., mobile device250 of FIG. 2A-2D) or to an application server/content host (e.g., 110of FIG. 1B-1C). In general, the proxy server 325 is remote from themobile devices and remote from the host server, as shown in the examplesof FIG. 1A-1C. The proxy server 325 or the host server 300 can monitorthe traffic for multiple mobile devices and is capable of categorizingtraffic and devising traffic policies for different mobile devices.

In addition, the proxy server 325 or host server 300 can operate withmultiple carriers or network operators and can implementcarrier-specific policies relating to categorization of traffic andimplementation of traffic policies for the various categories. Forexample, the traffic analyzer 336 of the proxy server 325 or host server300 can include one or more of, a prioritization engine 341 a, a timecriticality detection engine 341 b, an application state categorizer 341c, and/or an application traffic categorizer 341 d.

Each of these engines or modules can track different criterion for whatis considered priority, time critical, background/foreground, orinteractive/maintenance based on different wireless carriers. Differentcriterion may also exist for different mobile device types (e.g., devicemodel, manufacturer, operating system, etc.). In some instances, theuser of the mobile devices can adjust the settings or criterionregarding traffic category and the proxy server 325 is able to track andimplement these user adjusted/configured settings.

In one embodiment, the traffic analyzer 336 is able to detect,determined, identify, or infer, the activity state of an application onone or more mobile devices (e.g., mobile device 150 or 250) whichtraffic has originated from or is directed to, for example, via theapplication state categorizer 341 c and/or the traffic categorizer 341d. The activity state can be determined based on whether the applicationis in a foreground or background state on one or more of the mobiledevices (via the application state categorizer 341 c) since the trafficfor a foreground application vs. a background application may be handleddifferently to optimize network use.

In the alternate or in combination, the activity state of an applicationcan be determined by the wirelessly connected mobile devices (e.g., viathe application behavior detectors in the local proxies) andcommunicated to the proxy server 325. For example, the activity statecan be determined, detected, identified, or inferred with a level ofcertainty of heuristics, based on the backlight status at mobile devices(e.g., by a backlight detector) or other software agents or hardwaresensors on the mobile device, including but not limited to, resistivesensors, capacitive sensors, ambient light sensors, motion sensors,touch sensors, proximity sensors, facial detectors/recognizers, retinaldetectors/recognizers, etc. In general, if the backlight is on, or userpresence, activity is otherwise detected, the traffic can be treated asbeing or determined to be generated from an application that is activeor in the foreground, or the traffic is interactive. In addition, if thebacklight is on, the traffic can be treated as being or determined to betraffic from user interaction or user activity, or traffic containingdata that the user is expecting within some time frame.

The activity state can be determined from assessing, determining,evaluating, inferring, identifying user activity at the mobile device250 (e.g., via the user activity module 215) and communicated to theproxy server 325. In one embodiment, the activity state is determinedbased on whether the traffic is interactive traffic or maintenancetraffic. Interactive traffic can include transactions from responses andrequests generated directly from user activity/interaction with anapplication and can include content or data that a user is waiting orexpecting to receive. Maintenance traffic may be used to support thefunctionality of an application which is not directly detected by auser. Maintenance traffic can also include actions or transactions thatmay take place in response to a user action, but the user is notactively waiting for or expecting a response.

The time criticality detection engine 341 b can generally determine,identify, infer the time sensitivity of data contained in traffic sentfrom the mobile device 250 or to the mobile device from the host server300 or proxy server 325, or the application server (e.g., appserver/content source 110). For example, time sensitive data caninclude, status updates, stock information updates, IM presenceinformation, email messages or other messages, actions generated frommobile gaming applications, webpage requests, location updates, etc.

Data that is not time sensitive or time critical, by nature of thecontent or request, can include requests to delete messages,mark-as-read or edited actions, application-specific actions such as aadd-friend or delete-friend request, certain types of messages, or otherinformation which does not frequently changing by nature, etc. In someinstances when the data is not time critical, the timing with which toallow the traffic to be sent to a mobile device is based on when thereis additional data that needs to the sent to the same mobile device. Forexample, traffic shaping engine 375 can align the traffic with one ormore subsequent transactions to be sent together in a single power-onevent of the mobile device radio (e.g., using the alignment module 378and/or the batching module 377). The alignment module 378 can also alignpolling requests occurring close in time directed to the same hostserver, since these request are likely to be responded to with the samedata.

In general, whether new or changed data is sent from a host server to amobile device can be determined based on whether an application on themobile device to which the new or changed data is relevant, is runningin a foreground (e.g., by the application state categorizer 341 c), orthe priority or time criticality of the new or changed data. The proxyserver 325 can send the new or changed data to the mobile device if theapplication is in the foreground on the mobile device, or if theapplication is in the foreground and in an active state interacting witha user on the mobile device, and/or whether a user is waiting for aresponse that would be provided in the new or changed data. The proxyserver 325 (or traffic shaping engine 375) can send the new or changeddata that is of a high priority or is time critical.

Similarly, the proxy server 325 (or the traffic shaping engine 375) cansuppressing the sending of the new or changed data if the application isin the background on the mobile device. The proxy server 325 can alsosuppress the sending of the new or changed data if the user is notwaiting for the response provided in the new or changed data; whereinthe suppressing is performed by a proxy server coupled to the hostserver and able to wirelessly connect to the mobile device.

In general, if data, including new or change data is of a low priorityor is not time critical, the proxy server can waiting to transfer thedata until after a time period, or until there is additional data to besent (e.g. via the alignment module 378 and/or the batching module 377).

FIG. 6A depicts another flow diagram illustrating an example process fordistributed content caching between a mobile device and a proxy serverand the distributed management of content caching.

As shown in the distributed system interaction diagram in the example ofFIG. 4, the disclosed technology is a distributed caching model withvarious aspects of caching tasks split between the client-side/mobiledevice side (e.g., mobile device 450 in the example of FIG. 4) and theserver side (e.g., server side 470 including the host server 485 and/orthe optional caching proxy 475).

In general the device-side responsibilities can include deciding whethera response to a particular request can be and/or should be cached. Thedevice-side of the proxy can make this decision based on information(e.g., timing characteristics, detected pattern, detected pattern withheuristics, indication of predictability or repeatability) collectedfrom/during both request and response and cache it (e.g., storing it ina local cache on the mobile device). The device side can also notify theserver-side in the distributed cache system of the local cache event andnotify it monitor the content source (e.g., application server/contentprovider 110 of FIG. 1A-B).

The device side can further instruct the server side of the distributedproxy to periodically validate the cache response (e.g., by way ofpolling, or sending polling requests to the content source). The deviceside can further decide whether a response to a particular cache requestshould be returned from the local cache (e.g., whether a cache hit isdetected). The decision can be made by the device side (e.g., the localproxy on the device) using information collected from/during requestand/or responses received from the content source.

In general, the server-side responsibilities can include validatingcached responses for relevancy (e.g., determine whether a cachedresponse is still valid or relevant to its associated request). Theserver-side can send the mobile device an invalidation request to notifythe device side when a cached response is detected to be no longer validor no longer relevant (e.g., the server invalidates a given contentsource). The device side then can remove the response from the localcache.

The diagram of FIG. 6A illustrates caching logic processes performed foreach detected or intercepted request (e.g., HTTP request) detected at amobile device (e.g., client-side of the distributed proxy). In step 602,the client-side of the proxy (e.g., local proxy 275 shown in FIG. 2A-Bor mobile device 450 of FIG. 4) receives a request (from an application(e.g., mobile application) or mobile client). In step 604, URL isnormalized and in step 606 the client-side checks to determine if therequest is cacheable. If the request is determined to be not cacheablein step 612, the request is sent to the source (applicationserver/content provider) in step 608 and the response is received 610and delivered to the requesting application 622, similar to arequest-response sequence without interception by the client side proxy.

If the request is determined to be cacheable, in step 612, theclient-side looks up the cache to determine whether a cache entry existsfor the current request. If so, in step 624, the client-side candetermine whether the entry is valid and if so, the client side cancheck the request to see if includes a validator (e.g., a modifiedheader or an entity tag) in step 615. For example, the concept ofvalidation is eluded to in section 13.3 of RFC 2616 which describes inpossible types of headers (e.g., eTAG, Modified_Since, must_revlaidate,pragma no_cache) and forms a validating response 632 if so to bedelivered to the requesting application in step 622. If the request doesnot include a validator as determined by step 615, a response is formedfrom the local cache in step 630 and delivered to the requestingapplication in step 622. This validation step can be used for contentthat would otherwise normally be considered un-cacheable.

If, instead, in step 624, the cache entry is found but determined to beno longer valid or invalid, the client side of the proxy sends therequest 616 to the content source (application server/content host) andreceives a response directly fro the source in step 618. Similarly, ifin step 612, a cache entry was not found during the look up, the requestis also sent in step 616. Once the response is received, the client sidechecks the response to determine if it is cacheable in step 626. If so,the response is cached in step 620. The client then sends another pollin step 614 and then delivers the response to the requesting applicationin step 622.

FIG. 6B depicts a diagram showing how data requests from a mobile device450 to an application server/content provider 495 in a wireless networkcan be coordinated by a distributed proxy system 460 in a manner suchthat network and battery resources are conserved through using contentcaching and monitoring performed by the distributed proxy system 460.

In satisfying application or client requests on a mobile device 450without the distributed proxy system 460, the mobile device 450, or thesoftware widget executing on the device 450, performs a data request 452(e.g., an HTTP GET, POST, or other request) directly to the applicationserver 495 and receives a response 404 directly from the server/provider495. If the data has been updated, the widget 455 on the mobile device450 can refreshes itself to reflect the update and waits for smallperiod of time and initiates another data request to the server/provider495.

In one embodiment, the requesting client or software widget 455 on thedevice 450 can utilize the distributed proxy system 460 in handling thedata request made to server/provider 495. In general, the distributedproxy system 460 can include a local proxy 465 (which is typicallyconsidered a client-side component of the system 460 and can reside onthe mobile device 450), a caching proxy 475 (considered a server-sidecomponent 470 of the system 460 and can reside on the host server 485 orbe wholly or partially external to the host server 485), and a hostserver 485. The local proxy 465 can be connected to the caching proxy475 and host server 485 via any network or combination of networks.

When the distributed proxy system 460 is used for data/applicationrequests, the widget 455 can perform the data request 456 via the localproxy 465. The local proxy 465, can intercept the requests made bydevice applications, and can identify the connection type of the request(e.g., an HTTP get request or other types of requests). The local proxy465 can then query the local cache for any previous information aboutthe request (e.g., to determine whether a locally stored response isavailable and/or still valid). If a locally stored response is notavailable or if there is an invalid response stored, the local proxy 465can update or store information about the request, the time it was made,and any additional data, in the local cache. The information can beupdated for use in potentially satisfying subsequent requests.

The local proxy 465 can then send the request to the host server 485 andthe host server 485 can perform the request 456 and returns the resultsin response 458. The local proxy 465 can store the result and, inaddition, information about the result and returns the result to therequesting widget 455.

In one embodiment, if the same request has occurred multiple times(within a certain time period) and it has often yielded same results,the local proxy 465 can notify 460 the server 485 that the requestshould be monitored (e.g., steps 462 and 464) for result changes priorto returning a result to the local proxy 465 or requesting widget 455.

In one embodiment, if a request is marked for monitoring, the localproxy 465 can now store the results into the local cache. Now, when thedata request 466, for which a locally response is available, is made bythe widget 455 and intercepted at the local proxy 465, the local proxy465 can return the response 468 from the local cache without needing toestablish a connection communication over the wireless network.

In addition, the server proxy performs the requests marked formonitoring 470 to determine whether the response 472 for the givenrequest has changed. In general, the host server 485 can perform thismonitoring independently of the widget 455 or local proxy 465operations. Whenever an unexpected response 472 is received for arequest, the server 485 can notify the local proxy 465 that the responsehas changed (e.g., the invalidate notification in step 474) and that thelocally stored response on the client should be erased or replaced witha new response.

In this case, a subsequent data request 476 by the widget 455 from thedevice 450 results in the data being returned from host server 485(e.g., via the caching proxy 475), and in step 478, the request issatisfied from the caching proxy 475. Thus, through utilizing thedistributed proxy system 460, the wireless (cellular) network isintelligently used when the content/data for the widget or softwareapplication 455 on the mobile device 450 has actually changed. As such,the traffic needed to check for the changes to application data is notperformed over the wireless (cellular) network. This reduces the amountof generated network traffic and shortens the total time and the numberof times the radio module is powered up on the mobile device 450, thusreducing battery consumption and, in addition, frees up networkbandwidth.

FIG. 7 depicts a table 700 showing examples of different traffic orapplication category types which can be used in implementing networkaccess and content delivery policies. For example, traffic/applicationcategories can include interactive or background, whether a user iswaiting for the response, foreground/background application, and whetherthe backlight is on or off.

FIG. 8 depicts a table 800 showing examples of different contentcategory types which can be used in implementing network access andcontent delivery policies. For example, content category types caninclude content of high or low priority, and time critical or non-timecritical content/data.

FIG. 9 depicts an interaction diagram showing how application (e.g.,mobile application) 955 polls having data requests from a mobile deviceto an application server/content provider 995 over a wireless networkcan be can be cached on the local proxy 965 and managed by thedistributed caching system (including local proxy 965 and the hostserver 985 (having server cache 935 or caching proxy server 975)).

In one example, when the mobile application/widget 955 polls anapplication server/provider 932, the poll can locally be intercepted 934on the mobile device by local proxy 965. The local proxy 965 can detectthat the cached content is available for the polled content in therequest and can thus retrieve a response from the local cache to satisfythe intercepted poll 936 without requiring use of wireless networkbandwidth or other wireless network resources. The mobileapplication/widget 955 can subsequently receive a response to the pollfrom a cache entry 938.

In another example, the mobile application widget 955 polls theapplication server/provider 940. The poll is intercepted 942 by thelocal proxy 965 and detects that cache content is unavailable in thelocal cache and decides to set up the polled source for caching 944. Tosatisfy the request, the poll is forwarded to the content source 946.The application server/provider 995 receives the poll request from theapplication and provides a response to satisfy the current request 948.In 950, the application (e.g., mobile application)/widget 955 receivesthe response from the application server/provider to satisfy therequest.

In conjunction, in order to set up content caching, the local proxy 965tracks the polling frequency of the application and can set up a pollingschedule to be sent to the host server 952. The local proxy sends thecache set up to the host server 954. The host server 985 can use thecache set up which includes, for example, an identification of theapplication server/provider to be polled and optionally a pollingschedule 956. The host server 985 can now poll the applicationserver/provider 995 to monitor responses to the request 958 on behalf ofthe mobile device. The application server receives the poll from thehost server and responds 960. The host server 985 determines that thesame response has been received and polls the application server 995according to the specified polling schedule 962. The applicationserver/content provider 995 receives the poll and responds accordingly964.

The host server 985 detects changed or new responses and notifies thelocal proxy 965. The host server 985 can additional store the changed ornew response in the server cache or caching proxy 968. The local proxy965 receives notification from the host server 985 that new or changeddata is now available and can invalidate the affected cache entries 970.The next time the application (e.g., mobile application)/widget 955generates the same request for the same server/content provider 972, thelocal proxy determines that no valid cache entry is available andinstead retrieves a response from the server cache 974, for example,through an HTTP connection. The host server 985 receives the request forthe new response and sends the response back 976 to the local proxy 965.The request is thus satisfied from the server cache or caching proxy 978without the need for the mobile device to utilize its radio or toconsume mobile network bandwidth thus conserving network resources.

Alternatively, when the application (e.g., mobile application) generatesthe same request in step 980, the local proxy 965, in response todetermining that no valid cache entry is available, forwards the poll tothe application server/provider in step 982 over the mobile network. Theapplication server/provider 995 receives the poll and sends the responseback to the mobile device in step 984 over the mobile network. Therequest is thus satisfied from the server/provider using the mobilenetwork in step 986.

FIG. 10A depicts a flow diagram illustrating an example process where acustomer service provider/call center obtains information needed torespond to a customer service request.

At decision block 1005, the customer service provider/call centerdetermines whether it has received a customer service request from amobile device user. If no customer service request is received (block1005—No), the process remains at decision block 1005 until a request isreceived. If a customer service request is received (block 1005—Yes), atblock 1010, the customer service provider/call center requests specificinformation to respond to the request from the server-side reportingengine and usage analytics engine and/or the client-side reportingengine and usage analytics engine. Examples of information that may berequested include information for a specific application or mobiledevice.

FIG. 10B depicts a flow diagram illustrating an example process where acustomer service provider/call center obtains information needed forsystem monitoring or maintenance.

At decision block 1055, the customer service provider/call centerdetermines whether it needs more information for monitoring and/ormaintenance of the system. If no information is needed (block 1055—No),the process remains at decision block 1055 until information is needed.If information is needed (block 1055—Yes), at block 1060, the customerservice provider/call center requests the information needed to monitorand/or maintain the system from the server-side reporting engine andusage analytics engine and/or the client-side reporting engine and usageanalytics engine. Examples of information that may be requested by thecustomer service provider/call center include statistics on current andhistorical network availability.

FIG. 11 depicts a flow chart illustrating an example process forcollecting information about a request and the associated response toidentify cacheability and caching the response.

In process 1102, information about a request and information about theresponse received for the request is collected. In processes 1104 and1106, information about the request initiated at the mobile device andinformation about the response received for the request are used inaggregate or independently to determine cacheability at step 1108. Thedetails of the steps for using request and response information forassessing cacheability are illustrated at flow A as further described inthe example of FIG. 12.

In step 1108, if based on flow A it is determined that the response isnot cacheable, then the response is not cached in step 1110, and theflow can optionally restart at 1102 to collect information about arequest or response to again assess cacheability.

In step 1108, if it is determined from flow A that the response iscacheable, then in 1112 the response can be stored in the cache as acache entry including metadata having additional information regardingcaching of the response. The cached entry, in addition to the response,includes metadata having additional information regarding caching of theresponse. The metadata can include timing data including, for example,access time of the cache entry or creation time of the cache entry.

After the response is stored in the cache, a parallel process can occurto determine whether the response stored in the cache needs to beupdated in process 1120. If so, the response stored in the cache of themobile device is invalided or removed from the cache of the mobiledevice, in process 1122. For example, relevance or validity of theresponse can be verified periodically by polling a host server to whichthe request is directed on behalf of the mobile device. The host servercan be polled at a rate determined at the mobile device using requestinformation collected for the request for which the response is cached.The rate is determined from averages of time intervals between previousrequests generated by the same client which generated the request.

The verifying can be performed by an entity that is physically distinctfrom the mobile device. In one embodiment, the entity is a proxy servercoupled to the mobile device and able to communicate wirelessly with themobile device and the proxy server polls a host server to which therequest is directed at the rate determined at the mobile device based ontiming intervals between previous requests generated by the same clientwhich generated the request.

In process 1114, a subsequent request for the same client or applicationis detected. In process 1116, cache look-up in the local cache isperformed to identify the cache entry to be used in responding to thesubsequent request. In one embodiment, the metadata is used to determinewhether the response stored as the cached entry is used to satisfy thesubsequent response. In process 1118, the response can be served fromthe cache to satisfy a subsequent request. The response can be served inresponse to identifying a matching cache entry for the subsequentrequest determined at least in part using the metadata.

FIG. 12 depicts a flow chart illustrating an example process for adecision flow to determine whether a response to a request can becached.

Process 1202 determines if the request is directed to a blacklisteddestination. If so, the response is not cached, in step 1285. If ablacklisted destination is detected, or if the request itself isassociated with a blacklisted application, the remainder of the analysisshown in the figure may not be performed. The process can continue tosteps 1204 and 1206 if the request and its destination are notblacklisted.

In process 1204, request characteristics information associated with therequest is analyzed. In analyzing the request, in process 1208, therequest method is identified and in step 1214, it is determined whetherthe response can be cached based on the request method. If anuncacheable request is detected, the request is not cached and theprocess may terminate at process 1285. If the request method isdetermined to be cacheable, or not uncacheable, then the response can beidentified as cacheable or potentially cacheable (e.g., cacheable butsubject to the other tests and analysis shown in the figure) at step1295.

In process 1210, the size of the request is determined. In process 1216,it is determined whether the request size exceeds a cacheable size. Ifso, the response is not cached and the analysis may terminate here atprocess 1285. If the request size does not exceed a cacheable size instep 1216, then the response can be identified as cacheable orpotentially cacheable (e.g., cacheable but subject to the other testsand analysis shown in the figure) at step 1295.

In step 1212, the periodicity information between the request and otherrequests generated by the same client is determined. In step 1218, it isdetermined whether periodicity has been identified. If not, the responseis not cached and the analysis may terminate here at process 1285. Ifso, then the response can be identified as cacheable or potentiallycacheable (e.g., cacheable but subject to the other tests and analysisshown in the figure) at step 1295.

In process 1206, the request characteristics information associated withthe response received for the request is analyzed.

In process 1220, the status code is identified and determined whetherthe status code indicates a cacheable response status code in process1228. If an uncacheable status code is detected, the request is notcached and the process may terminate at process 1285. If the responsestatus code indicates cacheability, or not uncacheable, then theresponse can be identified as cacheable or potentially cacheable (e.g.,cacheable but subject to the other tests and analysis shown in thefigure) at step 1295.

In process 1222, the size of the response is determined. In process1230, it is determined whether the response size exceeds a cacheablesize. If so, the response is not cached and the analysis may terminatehere at process 1285. If the response size does not exceed a cacheablesize in step 1230, then the response can be identified as cacheable orpotentially cacheable (e.g., cacheable but subject to the other testsand analysis shown in the figure) at step 1295.

In process 1224, the response body is analyzed. In process 1232, it isdetermined whether the response contains dynamic content or highlydynamic content. Dynamic content includes data that changes with a highfrequency and/or has a short time to live or short time of relevance dueto the inherence nature of the data (e.g., stock quotes, sports scoresof fast pace sporting events, etc.). If so, the response is not cachedand the analysis may terminate here at process 1285. If not, then theresponse can be identified as cacheable or potentially cacheable (e.g.,cacheable but subject to the other tests and analysis shown in thefigure) at step 1295.

Process 1226 determines whether transfer encoding or chunked transferencoding is used in the response. If so, the response is not cached andthe analysis may terminate here at process 1285. If not, then theresponse can be identified as cacheable or potentially cacheable (e.g.,cacheable but subject to the other tests and analysis shown in thefigure) at step 1295.

Not all of the tests described above need to be performed to determinedwhether a response is cached. Additional tests not shown may also beperformed. Note that any of the tests 1208, 1210, 1212, 1220, 1222,1224, and 1226 can be performed, singly or in any combination todetermine cacheability. In some instances, all of the above tests areperformed. In some instances, all tests performed (any number of theabove tests that are actually performed) need to confirm cacheabilityfor the response to be determined to be cacheable. In other words, insome cases, if any one of the above tests indicate non-cacheability, theresponse is not cached, regardless of the results of the other tests. Inother cases, different criteria can be used to determine which tests orhow many tests need to pass for the system to decide to cache a givenresponse, based on the combination of request characteristics andresponse characteristics.

FIG. 13 depicts a flow chart illustrating an example process fordetermining potential for cacheability based on request periodicityand/or response repeatability.

In process 1302, requests generated by the client are tracked to detectperiodicity of the requests. In process 1306, it is determined whetherthere are predictable patterns in the timing of the requests. If so, theresponse content may be cached in process 1395. If not, in process 1308it is determined whether the request intervals fall within a tolerancelevel. If so, the response content may be cached in process 1395. Ifnot, the response is not cached in process 1385.

In process 1304, responses received for requests generated by the clientare tracked to detect repeatability in content of the responses. Inprocess 1310, hash values of response bodies of the responses receivedfor the client are examined and in process 1312 the status codesassociated with the responses are examined. In process 1314, it isdetermined whether there is similarity in the content of at least two ofthe responses using hash values and/or the status codes. If so, theresponse may be cached in process 1395. If not, the response is notcached in 1385.

FIG. 14 depicts a flow chart illustrating an example process fordynamically adjusting caching parameters for a given request or client.

In process 1402, requests generated by a client or directed to a hostare tracked at the mobile device to detect periodicity of the requests.Process 1404 determines if the request intervals between the two or morerequests are the same or approximately the same. In process 1406, it isdetermined that the request intervals between the two or more requestsfall within the tolerance level.

Based on the results of steps 1404 and 1406, the response for therequests for which periodicity is detected is received in process 1408.

In process 1412, a response is cached as a cache entry in a cache of themobile device. In process 1414, the host is monitored at a rate toverify relevance or validity of the cache entry, and simultaneously, inprocess 1416, the response can be served from the cache to satisfy asubsequent request.

In process 1410, a rate to monitor a host is determined from the requestinterval, using, for example, the results of processes 1404 and/or 1406.In process 1420, the rate at which the given host is monitored is set toverify relevance or validity of the cache entry for the requests. Inprocess 1422, a change in request intervals for requests generated bythe client is detected. In process 1424, a different rate is computedbased on the change in request intervals. The rate at which the givenhost is monitored to verify relevance or validity of the cache entry forthe requests is updated in step 1420.

FIG. 15 depicts a flow chart illustrating example processes forapplication and/or traffic (data) categorization while factoring in useractivity and expectations for implementation of network access andcontent delivery policies.

In process 1502, a system or server detects that new or changed data isavailable to be sent to a mobile device. The data, new, changed, orupdated, can include one or more of, IM presence updates, stock tickerupdates, weather updates, mail, text messages, news feeds, friend feeds,blog entries, articles, documents, any multimedia content (e.g., images,audio, photographs, video, etc.), or any others that can be sent overHTTP or wireless broadband networks, either to be consumed by a user orfor use in maintaining operation of an end device or application.

In process 1504, the application to which the new or changed data isdirected is identified. In process 1506, the application is categorizedbased on the application. In process 1508, the priority or timecriticality of the new or changed data is determined. In process 1510,the data is categorized. Based on the information determined from theapplication and/or priority/time-sensitivity of the relevant data, anyor all of a series of evaluations can be performed to categorize thetraffic and/or to formulate a policy for delivery and/or powering on themobile device radio.

For example, using the identified application information, in process1512, it is determined whether the application is in an active stateinteracting with a user on a mobile device. In process 1514, it isdetermined if the application is running in the foreground on the mobiledevice.

If the answer is ‘Yes’ to any number of the test of processes 1512 or1514, the system or server can then determine that the new or changeddata is to be sent to the mobile device in step 1526, and sent withoutdelay. Alternatively, the process can continue at flow ‘C’ where thetiming, along with other transmission parameters such as networkconfiguration, can be selected. If the answer is ‘No’ to the tests of1512 or 1514, the other test can be performed in any order. As long asone of the tests 1512 or 1514 is ‘Yes,’ then the system or server havingthe data can proceed to step 1526 and/or flow ‘C.’

If the answer is ‘No’ to the tests 1512 and 1514 based on theapplication or application characteristics, then the process can proceedto step 1524, where the sending of the new or changed data issuppressed, at least on a temporary basis. The process can continue inflow ‘A’ for example steps for further determining the timing of when tosend the data to optimize network use and/or device power consumption.

Similarly, in process 1516, it is determined whether the application isrunning in the background. If so, the process can proceed to step 1524where the sending of the new or changed data is suppressed. However,even if the application is in the background state, any of the remainingtests can be performed. For example, even if an application is in thebackground state, new or changed data may still be sent if of a highpriority or is time critical.

Using the priority or time sensitivity information, in process 1518, itis determined whether the data is of high priority 1518. In process1520, it is determined whether the data is time critical. In process1522, it is determined whether a user is waiting for a response thatwould be provided in the available data.

If the answer is ‘Yes’ to any number of the test of processes 1518,1520, or 1522, the system or server can then determine that the new orchanged data is to be sent to the mobile device in step 1526, and sentwithout delay. Alternatively, the process can continue at flow ‘C’ wherethe timing, along with other transmission parameters such as a networkconfiguration, can be selected. If the answer is ‘No’ to any of thesetests, the other test can be performed in any order. As long as one ofthe tests 1518, 1520, or 1522 is ‘Yes,’ then the system or server havingthe data can proceed to step 1526 and/or flow ‘C.’

If the answer is ‘No’ to one or more of the tests 1518, 1520, or 1522,then the process can proceed to step 1524, where the sending of the newor changed data is suppressed, at least on a temporary basis. Theprocess can continue in flow ‘A’ for example steps for furtherdetermining the timing of when to send the data to optimize network useand/or device power consumption. The process can continue to step 1524with or without the other tests being performed if one of the testsyields a ‘No’ response.

The determined application category in step 1504 can be used in lieu ofor in conjunction with the determined data categories in step 1510. Forexample, the new or changed data that is of a high priority or is timecritical can be sent at step 1526 even if the application in theforeground state but not actively interacting with the user on themobile device or if the application is not in the foreground, or in thebackground.

Similarly, even if the user is not waiting for a response which would beprovided in the new or change data (in step 1522), the data can be sentto the mobile device 1526 if the application is in the foreground, or ifthe data is of high priority or contains time critical content.

In general, the suppression can be performed at the content source(e.g., originating server/content host of the new or changed data), orat a proxy server. For example, the proxy server may be remote from therecipient mobile device (e.g., able to wirelessly connect to thereceiving mobile device). The proxy server may also be remote from theoriginating server/content host. Specifically, the logic andintelligence in determining whether the data is to be sent or suppressedcan exist on the same server or be the same entity as the originator ofthe data to be sent or partially or wholly remote from it (e.g., theproxy is able to communicate with the content originating server).

In one embodiment, the waiting to transfer the data is managed by alocal proxy on the mobile device which is able to wirelessly communicatewith a recipient server (e.g., the host server for the mobileapplication or client). The local proxy on the mobile device can controlthe radio use on the mobile device for transfer of the data when thetime period has elapsed, or when additional data to be sent is detected.

FIG. 16A depicts a flow chart illustrating example processes forhandling traffic which is to be suppressed at least temporarilydetermined from application/traffic categorization.

For example, in process 1602, a time period is elapsed before the new orchange data is transmitted in step 1606. This can be performed if thedata is of low priority or is not time critical, or otherwise determinedto be suppressed for sending (e.g., as determined in the flow chart ofFIG. 15). The time period can be set by the application, the user, athird party, and/or take upon a default value. The time period may alsobe adapted over time for specific types of applications or real-timenetwork operating conditions. If the new or changed data to be sent isoriginating from a mobile device, the waiting to transfer of the datauntil a time period has elapsed can be managed by a local proxy on themobile device, which can communicate with the host server. The localproxy can also enable or allow the use radio use on the mobile devicefor transfer of the data when the time period has elapsed.

In some instances, the new or changed data is transmitted in 1606 whenthere is additional data to be sent, in process 1604. If the new orchanged data to be sent is originating from a mobile device, the waitingto transfer of the data until there is additional data to be sent, canbe managed by a local proxy on the mobile device, which can communicatewith the host server. The local proxy can also enable or allow the useradio use on the mobile device for transfer of the data when there isadditional data to be sent, such that device resources can be conserved.Note that the additional data may originate from the same mobileapplication/client or a different application/client. The additionaldata may include content of higher priority or is time critical. Theadditional data may also be of same or lower priority. In someinstances, a certain number of non priority, or non time-sensitiveevents may trigger a send event.

If the new or changed data to be sent is originating from a server(proxy server or host server of the content), the waiting to transfer ofthe data until a time period has elapsed or waiting for additional datato be sent, can be managed by the proxy server which can wirelesslycommunicate with the mobile device. In general, the proxy server waitsuntil additional data is available for the same mobile device beforesending the data together in a single transaction to minimize the numberof power-ons of device battery and to optimize network use.

FIG. 16B depicts a flow chart illustrating an example process forselection of a network configuration for use in sending traffic based onapplication and/or traffic (data) categorization.

In process 1608, an activity state of an application on the mobiledevice is detected for which traffic is directed to or originated fromis detected. In parallel or in lieu of activity state, a timecriticality of data contained in the traffic to be sent between themobile device and the host server can be determined, in process 1610.The activity state can be determined in part or in while, by whether theapplication is in a foreground or background state on the mobile device.The activity state can also be determined by whether a user isinteracting the application.

Using activity state and/or data characteristics, when it has determinedfrom that the data is to be sent to the mobile device in step 1612 ofFIG. 15, the process can continue to step 3006 for network configurationselection.

For example, in process 1614, a generation of wireless standard isselected. The generation of wireless standard which can be selectedincludes 2G or 2.5G, 3G, 3.5G, 3G+, 3GPP, LTE, or 4G, or any otherfuture generations. For example, slower or older generation of wirelessstandards can be specified for less critical transactions or trafficcontaining less critical data. For example, older standards such as 2G,2.5G, or 3G can be selected for routing traffic when one or more of thefollowing is detected, the application is not interacting with the user,the application is running in the background on the mobile device, orthe data contained in the traffic is not time critical. Newergenerations such as can be specified for higher priority traffic ortransactions. For example, newer generations such as 3G, LTE, or 4G canbe specified for traffic when the activity state is in interaction witha user or in a foreground on the mobile device.

In process 1616, the access channel type can be selected. For example,forward access channel (FACH) or the dedicated channel (DCH) can bespecified. In process 1618, a network configuration is selected based ondata rate or data rate capabilities. For example, a networkconfiguration with a slower data rate can be specified for traffic whenone or more of the following is detected, the application is notinteracting with the user, the application is running in the backgroundon the mobile device, or the data contained in the traffic is not timecritical

In process 1620, a network configuration is selected by specifyingaccess points. Any or all of the steps 1614, 1616, 1618, and 1620 can beperformed or in any combination in specifying network configurations.

FIG. 16C depicts a flow chart illustrating an example process forimplementing network access and content delivery policies based onapplication and/or traffic (data) categorization.

In process 1634, an activity state of an application on a mobile deviceto which traffic is originated from or directed to is detected. Forexample, the activity state can be determined by whether the applicationis in a foreground or background state on the mobile device. Theactivity state can also be determined by whether a user is expectingdata contained in the traffic directed to the mobile device.

In process 1636, a time criticality of data contained in the traffic tobe sent between the mobile device and the host server is detected. Forexample, when the data is not time critical, the timing with which toallow the traffic to pass through can be set based on when additionaldata needs to be sent. Therefore, the traffic can be batched with theother data so as to conserve network and/or device resources.

The application state and/or data characteristics can be used forapplication categorization and/or data categorization to determinewhether the traffic resulting therefrom is to be sent to the mobiledevice or suppressed at least on a temporary basis before sending, asillustrated in the flow chart shown in the example of FIG. 15.

Continuing at flow C after a determination has been made to send thetraffic, the parameters relating to how and when the traffic is to besent can be determined. For example, in process 1638, a timing withwhich to allow the traffic to pass through, is determined based on theactivity state or the time criticality.

In process 1640, radio use on the mobile device is controlled based onthe timing with which the traffic is allowed to pass through. Forexample, for traffic initiated from the mobile device, a local proxy canresiding on the mobile device can control whether the radio is to beturned on for a transaction, and if so, when it is to be turned on,based on transaction characteristics determined from application state,or data priority/time-sensitivity.

In process 1642, a network configuration in the wireless network isselected for use in passing traffic to and/or from the mobile device.For example, a higher capacity or data rate network (e.g., 3G, 3G+,3.5G, LTE, or 4G networks) can be selected for passing through trafficwhen the application is active or when the data contained in the trafficis time critical or is otherwise of a higher priority/importance.

FIG. 17 depicts a flow chart illustrating an example process for networkselection based on mobile user activity or user expectations.

In process 1702, the backlight status of a mobile device is detected.The backlight status can be used to determine or infer informationregarding user activity and/or user expectations. For example, inprocess 1704, user interaction with an application on a mobile device isdetected and/or in process 1706, it is determined that a user isexpecting data contained in traffic directed to the mobile device, ifthe backlight is on.

The user interaction 1704 and/or user expectation 1706 can be determinedor inferred via other direct or indirect cues. For example, devicemotion sensor, ambient light, data activity, detection of radio activityand patterns, call processing, etc. can be used alone or in combinationto make an assessment regarding user activity, interaction, orexpectations.

In process 1708, an activity state of an application on the mobiledevice for which traffic is originated from or directed to, isdetermined. In one embodiment, the activity state of the application isdetermined by user interaction with the application on the mobile deviceand/or by whether a user is expecting data contained in the trafficdirected to the mobile device.

In process 1710, 3G, 4G, or LTE network is selected for use in sendingtraffic between a mobile device and a host server in the wirelessnetwork. Other network configurations or technologies can be selected aswell, including but not limited to 2.5G GSM/GPRS networks, EDGE/EGPRS,3.5G, 3G+, turbo 3G, HSDPA, etc. For example, a higher bandwidth orhigher capacity network can be selected when user interaction isdetected with an application requesting to access the network.Similarly, if it can be determined or inferred with some certainty thatthe user may be expecting data contained in traffic requesting networkaccess, a higher capacity or higher data rate network may be selected aswell.

The activity state can also be determined by whether data contained inthe traffic directed to the mobile device responds to foregroundactivities in the application. For applications which are in theforeground, a higher capacity (e.g., 3.5G, 4G, or LTE) network may beselected for use in carrying out the transaction.

The activity state can be determined via device parameters such as thebacklight status of the mobile device or any other software or hardwarebased device sensors including but not limited to, resistive sensors,capacitive sensors, light detectors, motion sensors, proximity sensors,touch screen sensors, etc. The network configuration which is selectedfor use can be further based on a time criticality and/or priority ofdata contained in the traffic to be sent between the mobile device andthe host server.

FIG. 18 depicts a flow diagram illustrating an example process performedby the client-side reporting engine and usage analytics engine forproviding data to a customer service provider/call center.

At block 1805, the client-side reporting engine and usage analyticsengine collects an amount of data traffic sent to and from the mobiledevice.

Then at block 1810, the engine in the mobile device collectsoptimization efficiency data, such as the amount of data traffic thatwas not needed, the number of signaling connections that were notneeded, and the amount of time that the mobile device did not need toconnect to a network for transmitting or receiving traffic as a resultof using the distributed proxy and cache system.

Next, at block 1815, the engine collects data on signaling connectionsmade by the mobile device and the amount of time the mobile device isconnected to a network for transmitting and/or receiving traffic.

Further, at block 1820, the engine collects battery consumption data asa function of time.

At block 1825, the engine analyzes collected data and generates reports,such as trend charts, cumulative area charts, rankings reports, advancedtrend reports, advanced rankings reports, and big data technology-basedinformation extraction.

Then at decision block 1830, the client-side reporting engine and usageanalytics engine determines whether a customer service request has beeninitiated. If a service request has been initiated (block 1830—Yes), atblock 1835, the engine identifies the nature of the customer servicerequest. For example, the customer service request may concern an issueor question about the user's mobile device, network connectivity,billing, an application, and/or service availability.

Then at block 1840, the engine identifies relevant collected informationthat is responsive to the nature of the customer service request andtransmits the information to the customer service provider/call center.At block 1845, the engine responds to any specific requests forinformation from the customer service provider/call center. Examples ofrequests for information can include network connectivity over aspecific time period. Then the process returns to block 1805.

If no service request has been initiated (block 1830—No), the processcontinues to block 1845.

FIG. 19 depicts a flow diagram illustrating an example process performedby the server-side reporting engine and usage analytics engine forproviding data to a customer service provider/call center.

At block 1905, the server-side reporting engine and usage analyticsengine collects data about the number of users of the system acrossmultiple mobile devices and across multiple mobile networks.

Next, at block 1910, the engine collects optimization efficiency dataacross multiple mobile devices and across multiple mobile networks.

Then at block 1915, the engine collects an amount of data traffic sentto and from the multiple mobile devices across multiple mobile networks.

Further, at block 1920, the engine collects data about applicationsrunning on the multiple mobile devices and across multiple mobilenetworks.

At block 1925, the engine collects data about the types of the multiplemobile devices using multiple mobile networks.

The engine communicates with the multiple mobile devices to aggregatebattery consumption data at block 1930.

And at block 1935, the engine analyzes stored data and generatesreports, such as trend charts, cumulative area charts, rankings reports,advanced trend reports, advanced rankings reports, and big datatechnology-based information extraction. At block 1940, the enginetransmits the collected data and/or reports to the customer serviceprovider/call center. The transmission can be initiated periodically bythe reporting engine and usage analytics engine in the server.

Alternatively or additionally, the customer service provider/call centercan request specific information from the engine, and at block 1945, theengine responds by transmitting the requested information to thecustomer service provider/call center. The engine can also performcustom analyses and transmit the results of the custom analyses to theservice provider. Then the process returns to block 1905.

FIG. 20 depicts a flow diagram illustrating an example process performedby the server-side reporting engine and usage analytics engine forproviding information pertaining to network impact of traffic managementand optimization to and/or from mobile devices over a mobile network toa service provider of the mobile network.

At block 2005, the engine obtains data in conjunction with managementand optimization of traffic to and/or from one or more mobile devicesover one or more mobile networks. The obtained data includespre-optimization data and post-optimization data.

Then at block 2010, the engine generates one or more reports from theobtained data, where the reports include a comparison ofpre-optimization data and post-optimization data. Examples of comparisonreports are shown in FIGS. 1H-1J which show, respectively, a comparisonover a period of time of a total amount of traffic sent to or from theone or mobile devices over a mobile network and a saved total amount oftraffic not sent to or from the one or mobile devices as a result ofmanaging and optimizing traffic to or from the one or more mobiledevices; a comparison over a period of time of a number of actualconnections made between the one or mobile devices and a mobile networkand a saved number of connections not needed between the one or mobiledevices and the mobile network as a result of managing and optimizingtraffic to or from the one or more mobile devices; and a comparison overa period of time of an actual time the one or mobile devices areconnected to a mobile network and a saved amount of time that the one ormobile devices does not need to be connected to the mobile network as aresult of managing and optimizing traffic to or from the one or moremobile devices.

Next, at block 2015, the engine provides access to the reports to acarrier or service provider of the mobile networks.

FIG. 21 shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the exampleform of a computer system within which a set of instructions, forcausing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, may be executed.

In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone deviceor may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or aclient machine in a client-server network environment, or as a peermachine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment.

The machine may be a server computer, a client computer, a personalcomputer (PC), a user device, a tablet PC, a laptop computer, a set-topbox (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, aniPhone, an iPad, a Blackberry, a processor, a telephone, a webappliance, a network router, switch or bridge, a console, a hand-heldconsole, a (hand-held) gaming device, a music player, any portable,mobile, hand-held device, or any machine capable of executing a set ofinstructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be takenby that machine.

While the machine-readable medium or machine-readable storage medium isshown in an exemplary embodiment to be a single medium, the term“machine-readable medium” and “machine-readable storage medium” shouldbe taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database and/or associated caches andservers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term“machine-readable medium” and “machine-readable storage medium” shallalso be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encodingor carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and thatcause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of thepresently disclosed technique and innovation.

In general, the routines executed to implement the embodiments of thedisclosure may be implemented as part of an operating system or aspecific application, component, program, object, module or sequence ofinstructions referred to as “computer programs.” The computer programstypically comprise one or more instructions set at various times invarious memory and storage devices in a computer that, when read andexecuted by one or more processing units or processors in a computer,cause the computer to perform operations to execute elements involvingthe various aspects of the disclosure.

Moreover, while embodiments have been described in the context of fullyfunctioning computers and computer systems, those skilled in the artwill appreciate that the various embodiments are capable of beingdistributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that thedisclosure applies equally regardless of the particular type of machineor computer-readable media used to actually effect the distribution.

Further examples of machine-readable storage media, machine-readablemedia, or computer-readable (storage) media include but are not limitedto recordable type media such as volatile and non-volatile memorydevices, floppy and other removable disks, hard disk drives, opticaldisks (e.g., Compact Disk Read-Only Memory (CD ROMS), Digital VersatileDisks, (DVDs), etc.), among others, and transmission type media such asdigital and analog communication links.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and thelike are to be construed in an inclusive sense, as opposed to anexclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of“including, but not limited to.” As used herein, the terms “connected,”“coupled,” or any variant thereof, means any connection or coupling,either direct or indirect, between two or more elements; the coupling ofconnection between the elements can be physical, logical, or acombination thereof. Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below,”and words of similar import, when used in this application, shall referto this application as a whole and not to any particular portions ofthis application. Where the context permits, words in the above DetailedDescription using the singular or plural number may also include theplural or singular number respectively. The word “or,” in reference to alist of two or more items, covers all of the following interpretationsof the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list,and any combination of the items in the list.

The above detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the teachings to the precise formdisclosed above. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, thedisclosure are described above for illustrative purposes, variousequivalent modifications are possible within the scope of thedisclosure, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. Forexample, while processes or blocks are presented in a given order,alternative embodiments may perform routines having steps, or employsystems having blocks, in a different order, and some processes orblocks may be deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and/ormodified to provide alternative or sub-combinations. Each of theseprocesses or blocks may be implemented in a variety of different ways.Also, while processes or blocks are at times shown as being performed inseries, these processes or blocks may instead be performed in parallel,or may be performed at different times. Further any specific numbersnoted herein are only examples: alternative implementations may employdiffering values or ranges.

The teachings of the disclosure provided herein can be applied to othersystems, not necessarily the system described above. The elements andacts of the various embodiments described above can be combined toprovide further embodiments.

Any patents and applications and other references noted above, includingany that may be listed in accompanying filing papers, are incorporatedherein by reference. Aspects of the disclosure can be modified, ifnecessary, to employ the systems, functions, and concepts of the variousreferences described above to provide yet further embodiments of thedisclosure.

These and other changes can be made to the disclosure in light of theabove Detailed Description. While the above description describescertain embodiments of the disclosure, and describes the best modecontemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, theteachings can be practiced in many ways. Details of the system may varyconsiderably in its implementation details, while still beingencompassed by the subject matter disclosed herein. As noted above,particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspectsof the disclosure should not be taken to imply that the terminology isbeing redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics,features, or aspects of the disclosure with which that terminology isassociated. In general, the terms used in the following claims shouldnot be construed to limit the disclosure to the specific embodimentsdisclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Descriptionsection explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope ofthe disclosure encompasses not only the disclosed embodiments, but alsoall equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the disclosure underthe claims.

While certain aspects of the disclosure are presented below in certainclaim forms, the inventors contemplate the various aspects of thedisclosure in any number of claim forms. For example, while only oneaspect of the disclosure is recited as a means-plus-function claim under35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6, other aspects may likewise be embodied as ameans-plus-function claim, or in other forms, such as being embodied ina computer-readable medium. (Any claims intended to be treated under 35U.S.C. §112, ¶6 will begin with the words “means for.”) Accordingly, theapplicant reserves the right to add additional claims after filing theapplication to pursue such additional claim forms for other aspects ofthe disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile device having thereon accessible mobiledevice applications that provides information to a mobile devicecustomer service provider, the mobile device comprising: a radioconfigured to transmit information to the customer service provider; aprocessor; a first memory unit having instructions stored thereon whichwhen executed by the processor, causes the processor to: collect data inconjunction with management and optimization of traffic to or from themobile device; transmit via the radio at least some of the datapertaining to use of the mobile device to the service provider.
 2. Themobile device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further caused toidentify a customer service request sent by a user from the mobiledevice; and identify a nature of the customer service request, whereinthe data is relevant to the identified nature.
 3. The mobile device ofclaim 1, wherein the data includes a first amount of data traffic sentto or from the mobile device.
 4. The mobile device of claim 1, whereinthe data includes optimization efficiency data of the mobile devicebased upon the management and optimization of traffic to or from themobile device.
 5. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the dataincludes signaling connections made by the mobile device and a secondamount of time the mobile device is connected to a mobile network. 6.The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the data includes a third amountof battery consumption data for the mobile device.
 7. The mobile deviceof claim 1, wherein the processor is further caused to analyze the dataand generate one or more reports based on the data; and to transmit oneor more reports to the service provider.
 8. A machine readable mediumstoring instructions which when executed by a machine, cause the machineto: collect data in conjunction with management and optimization oftraffic to or from the plurality of mobile devices over a given mobilenetwork over a period of time; transmit at least some of the data to aservice provider of one of a plurality of mobile networks accessed bythe plurality of mobile devices.
 9. The machine readable medium of claim8, wherein the machine is further caused to: generate one or morereports from the data, wherein the data includes mobile deviceapplication data and mobile device type data; and transmit at least someof the one or more reports to the service provider.
 10. The machinereadable medium of claim 9, wherein the transmission of the at leastsome of the data and the at least some of the one or more reports issent periodically.
 11. The machine readable medium of claim 9, whereinthe transmission of the at least some of the data and the at least someof the one or more reports is sent upon request by the service provider.12. The machine readable medium of claim 9, wherein the one or morereports includes a number of mobile device applications that had ahighest connection optimization and an efficiency achieved for each of anumber of mobile device applications over a period of time.
 13. Themachine readable medium of claim 9, wherein the one or more reportsincludes a number of mobile device applications that had a largestnumber of users and a particular number of users of each of a number ofmobile device applications over a period of time.
 14. The machinereadable medium of claim 9, wherein the one or more reports includes anumber of mobile device applications that had a highest data consumptionand an amount of data consumed by each of a number of mobile deviceapplications over a period of time.
 15. The machine readable medium ofclaim 9, wherein the one or more reports includes a number of mobiledevice applications that had the greatest amount of network connectiontime and an amount of network connection time associated with each of anumber of mobile device applications over a period of time.
 16. Themachine readable medium of claim 9, wherein the one or more reportsincludes a number of mobile device types that had a highest connectionoptimization and an efficiency achieved for each of a number of mobiledevice types over a period of time.
 17. The machine readable medium ofclaim 9, wherein the one or more reports includes a number of mobiledevice types that had a largest number of users and a particular numberof users of each of a number of mobile device types over a period oftime.
 18. The machine readable medium of claim 9, wherein the one ormore reports includes a number of mobile device types that had a highestdata consumption and an amount of data consumed by each of a number ofmobile device types over a period of time.
 19. The machine readablemedium of claim 9, wherein the one or more reports includes a number ofmobile device types that a highest battery power consumption rate and abattery consumption rate for each of a number of mobile device typesover a period of time.
 20. A system for providing information from aserver to a mobile device customer service provider, the systemcomprising: means for aggregating at the server data from multiplemobile devices operating across multiple mobile networks, wherein thedata is collected in conjunction with management and optimization oftraffic to or from the multiple mobile devices over a given mobilenetwork over a period of time; means for providing by the server atleast some of the data to the customer service provider.
 21. The systemof claim 20, wherein the aggregated data includes a number of users ofthe multiple mobile devices.
 22. The system of claim 20, wherein theaggregated data includes optimization efficiency data of the multiplemobile devices running a traffic management optimization program. 23.The system of claim 20, wherein the aggregated data includes an amountof data traffic sent to or from the multiple mobile devices.
 24. Thesystem of claim 20, wherein the aggregated data includes at least oneof, applications accessed on the multiple mobile devices or types of themultiple mobile devices accessing the multiple mobile networks.
 25. Thesystem of claim 20, wherein the aggregated data includes batteryconsumption data for the multiple mobile devices accessing the multiplemobile networks.
 26. The system of claim 20, further comprising meansfor tracking data in conjunction with management and optimization oftraffic to or from the multiple mobile devices over a given mobilenetwork over a period of time.
 27. The system of claim 26, furthercomprising means for generating one or more trend charts and rankingreports based on at least a subset of the aggregated data and trackeddata.
 28. The system of claim 26, further comprising using big datatechnologies for extracting useful information from the aggregated dataand tracked data and performing trending of historical records.
 29. Thesystem of claim 26, further comprising advanced trend reports from theaggregated data and tracked data, wherein the advanced trend reportsinclude at least one of multiple trend efficiency reports, multipletrend data reports, multiple trend battery and signaling reports, andmultiple trend user reports; and transmitting at least a subset of theadvanced trend reports to the service provider.
 30. The system of claim26, further comprising advanced rankings reports from the aggregateddata and tracked data, wherein the advanced rankings reports include atleast one of: top bearers reports, top hosts reports, and top protocolreports; and transmitting at least a subset of the advanced rankingsreports to the service provider.
 31. A method of providing mobile deviceapplication information for a plurality of mobile device across aplurality of mobile networks, the method comprising: collecting mobiledevice application data and mobile device type data in conjunction withmanagement and optimization of traffic to or from the plurality ofmobile devices over a given mobile network over a period of time;generating one or more reports from the mobile device application dataand the mobile device type data; transmitting at least a subset of theone or more reports to a service provider of one of the plurality ofmobile networks.
 32. The method of claim 31, wherein the serviceprovider uses the at least a subset of one or more reports responsive toa mobile device user's customer service request.
 33. The method of claim31, wherein the service provider uses the at least a subset of one ormore reports for monitoring the one of the plurality of mobile networks.34. The method of claim 31, wherein the transmission of the at least asubset of one or more reports is responsive to a query from the serviceprovider.
 35. The method of claim 31, further comprising generatingtrend charts from the mobile device application data and mobile devicetype data; and transmitting at least some of the trend charts to theservice provider.
 36. The method of claim 31, further comprisinggenerating cumulative area charts from the mobile device applicationdata and mobile device type data; and transmitting at least some of thecumulative area charts to the service provider.
 37. The method of claim31, wherein the one or more reports include at least one of advancedtrend reports or advanced ranking reports from the mobile deviceapplication data and mobile device type data, wherein the advanced trendreports include at least one of multiple trend efficiency reports,multiple trend data reports, multiple trend battery and signalingreports, and multiple trend user reports; wherein the advanced rankingsreports include at least one of: top bearers reports, top hosts reports,and top protocol reports; and transmitting at least some of the one ormore reports to the service provider.
 38. The method of claim 31,further comprising performing custom analyses of the mobile applicationdata and mobile device type data, wherein the custom analyses caninclude at least one of: trending across single or multiple dimensionssimultaneously; time-of-day, day-of-the-week analyses with trending overtime; time-series analyses; predictive analyses; alerts for crossingtrend lines and changing trends; and data feed customer relationshipmanagement, network operations, or policy management in real-time, on anhourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis; and transmitting at least someof the custom analyses to the service provider.
 39. A method ofproviding information pertaining to network impact of traffic managementand optimization to or from one or more mobile devices over a mobilenetwork, the method comprising: obtaining data in conjunction withmanagement and optimization of traffic to or from one or more mobiledevices, wherein the data includes pre-optimization data andpost-optimization data; generating one or more reports from the obtaineddata, wherein the one or more reports include a comparison ofpre-optimization data and post-optimization data; providing access tothe one or more reports to a service provider of the mobile network. 40.The method of claim 39, wherein the one or more reports includes acomparison over a period of time of a total amount of traffic sent to orfrom the one or mobile devices over the mobile network and a saved totalamount of traffic not sent to or from the one or mobile devices as aresult of managing and optimizing traffic to or from the one or moremobile devices.
 41. The method of claim 39, wherein the one or morereports includes a comparison over a period of time of a number ofactual connections made between the one or mobile devices and the mobilenetwork and a saved number of connections not needed between the one ormobile devices and the mobile network as a result of managing andoptimizing traffic to or from the one or more mobile devices.
 42. Themethod of claim 39, wherein the one or more reports includes acomparison over a period of time of an actual time the one or mobiledevices are connected to the mobile network and a saved amount of timethat the one or mobile devices does not need to be connected to themobile network as a result of managing and optimizing traffic to or fromthe one or more mobile devices.